The First
by arilovexo
Summary: It's grade eleven, Austin is dating Piper and Ally is dating Gavin. After things begin to heat up with Austin, Piper begins to wonder who his first was, leading up to clues that shocks her (and a lot of others as well) that all lead to Ally. Austin/Ally
1. Chapter 1

_I am so sorry. I know I said I would post this earlier, but my mother is in town for her birthday and I was celebrating it with her. _

_We did a lot of crazy shit, probably things a mother and daughter normally don't do together... just kidding. We had dinner and we met with family and it was really amazing :) _

_So here it is, I've been getting a lot of tweets, messages, etc about why I haven't written and Austin & Ally story about Austin & Ally and not Ross & Laura. So a few things to know before reading this. They dated previously when they were much younger, around fourteen, but because they were both born so late in the year, they would have started at thirteen. Another thing is Austin has a sister (I haven't decided if she's step or full yet, but because they're so close she's considered his sister), Rydel. I really like her so I put her in this, plus I think she's an awesome sister, so... :) And... __there was something else, but I forget, haha. Oh, nevermind, that was it. _

_No wait, I remember now. Okay, so it's going to be told in flashbacks, so if the font is like this, then it means it's a flashback. It'll be sporadic so in the beginning, middle and end. Depending on where I want it to be and how it fits. _

_It maybe out of character at times, but hey you know, that's not new with my stories. _

_Also, deciding if I should add in Riker, Ellington and Rocky, still not sure about it yet. I feel like that might be R5 overload and I just want it to be mostly Austin and Ally, though I do have Rydel in this because you know, she looks kinda like Austin (hint hint), so Ellington would have to be in it, I suppose._

_And, I haven't seen the new episodes... I've only seen up to the one where they meet the president and Austin wears sparkling shoes. I'm still extremely behind and I've been told about Piper and Gavin by a few people, so I have some idea of who they are. Someday, I'll actually watch the episodes and get to know more about them, haha._

_I'm also very into old school music, rock, whatever, so there will be a lot of that in here, I think._

_Okay, I hope you enjoy it, I'm very excited about this one. _

_I don't own anything._

* * *

><p>"Oh shit," Austin tripped over a shoe he had left in the middle of his room, bringing his girlfriend, Piper down with him. They laughed as they landed on the ground and she looked up at him. She leaned up and pressed her lips against his. He smiled and kissed her back, his fingers running through her hair as she kissed him harder and deeper, her hands moving down to his pants. She unbuttoned his pants and was just about to touch him, when Austin suddenly pulled back. He sat up and while trying to catch his breath, ran his fingers through his hair, looking at her. "I'm um, sorry." He mumbled, looking away from her.<p>

She leaned on her elbows and looked up at him. "What's the problem?" She asked.

"I just don't feel like doing anything sexual today," He responded as he stood up again and buttoned up his jeans. "Besides, my parents are going to be home soon and I have to go to Ally's."

She raised an eyebrow, "you have to go to Ally's?"

He nodded, "we're working a new song together."

"Why not meet at Sonic Boom like you usually do?" She asked, her arms crossed over her chest.

"We don't always meet there," He defended as he grabbed his backpack. "Look, I'm sorry it didn't happen today-"

"It hasn't happened the last few times we've made out either! Do you not like me or something? Or.. are you-" Her eyes widened and she gasped, "are you a virgin? Is that why you don't want to-"

"What?" Austin shook his head, "I'm not a virgin." He moved passed her to grab his guitar.

"You're… not?" Piper then looked confused.

"I'm not." He confirmed, giving her a look, "okay, so I have to go, do you want a ride home?"

She nodded, then asked the question that was on her mind, "well then, who was your first?" She asked him.

He shrugged, "I don't speak to her anymore, so why does it matter?"

Piper rolled her eyes, "it just does, Austin, what was her name?"

"I'm not going to tell you that."

"Why not Austin? I'm your girlfriend!" Piper threw her hand up, "you have to be honest with me."

"I am and I don't want to tell you."

"Why not?"

"Why do you care?" He snapped.

"Why won't you just-"

"I can't tell you, because I don't remember! I was drunk!" He yelled at her. They stared at each other for a few seconds, "there you happy?" And with that, he stormed out of the room. Piper just stood there for a few moments, before grabbing her bag and then rushing down the stairs after him.

"Everything okay you two?" Mimi asked as she stopped Austin from going further. "I just walked in and heard you two yelling at each other."

"Everything's fine mom," Austin mumbled. "I have to take Piper home and go meet up with Ally to write a new song. I'll be home later." He kissed his mother's cheek and with that, walked out, Piper behind him.

* * *

><p>The car ride was tense and silent and even after he had dropped Piper off, Austin was still pissed off and thinking about what they had talked about. Yeah, he had stopped Piper from going further but that was because he wasn't ready to. He didn't want it as badly as she did.<p>

Which was weird because he was the guy and she was the girl, wasn't he supposed to want it?

He arrived at Ally's house. He got out of the car and the slowly walked up the pathway to her front door. Since Austin and Ally were such good friends, Ally's father had given him a key to use whenever he came over. He unlocked the door and knocked on it as he walked in, calling out a quick, "hello?"

"Upstairs, Austin!" He heard Ally yell and then he heard her laughing. Curious, he continued to walk up the steps until he reached the door to her bedroom. "Yeah, okay, see you there." She hung up and then turned to him a smile on her face. She got up and hugged him tight just as the door to her bathroom opened and her boyfriend, Gavin walked out of it.

"Hey dude!" Gavin high fived him and he nodded.

"Sup," He asked causally, his hands going inside his pockets. He looked at Ally, "why so dressed up?"

She looked at him like he grew another head, but shook her head, "did you forget? I have a small show tonight, I'm playing at the beach club," She reminded him as she turned to the mirror to put her make-up on.

"Oh right, should have remembered that. It's all you've been talking about for the last few weeks." He nodded and then sat down on her bed.

"What are you doing here anyways? Not that I have an issue with it," Gavin held his right hand out towards him to show he really didn't mind it, "I'm just curious."

"Well, I had thought we were going to write a new song together, but it's cool." Austin shrugged and stood up, he gave Ally a small smile and then wrapped his arm around her to hug her, "I'll see you later."

She nodded, hugging him back, but pulled back just slightly and they shared a meaningful look, "are you okay?" She asked.

He nodded, rubbing her back and gave her another smile, "yeah, totally fine." He assured her. He hugged her again, his arm wrapped tightly around her and then brought her down a bit as she laughed, "see you later, Princess. You're gonna kill it tonight, as always." He winked at her.

She giggled and waved at him as he walked out of the room.

He heard Gavin say something, but since it was a bit hushed, he paid no mind to it and walked out of the house and back to his car. He unlocked the car and got in, letting out a big sigh, he pulled away from his spot and drove off towards his house so he could change.

* * *

><p>Austin opened the front door to his house and ran up the stairs to his room. He passed by his sister's room, which was blasting loud music and then went into his room, closing the door behind him, but it opened soon after.<p>

"Why are you running in here like your ass is on fire?" His sister, Rydel asked as she walked inside and looked at him, her eyebrow raised.

"Because I have a show to get to. You're welcome to join." He told her, taking off his shirt and going into his closet to pick out a different one. He stuck his head out a moment later, "I could totally use your fashion skills right now by the way."

Rydel smiled, "okay." She walked into his closet and began to rip shirts and jeans and all kinds of things off his hanger, "no, ew, gross, why do you even own this? What the hell were you thinking? Are you on drugs?" She kept throwing everything behind her as Austin kept shouting her name and ducking and then finally pulled out the perfect outfit. A simple dark grey shirt and ripped skinny jeans. She held them out towards her brother and then ran her fingers through his hair, messing it up a bit. He just gave her a look, "perfect."

"Thanks so much for the hurricane, Rydel." He responded back and with that looked at the outfit, his eyes lighting up. "Dude! Perfect!"

She smiled, "you're welcome, now get ready. What did you say the show was for by the way?" She asked as she passed by him to leave so he could change.

He looked at her confused, "I didn't say what it was for, but it's Ally, she's performing live tonight. I'm gonna go support her."

"Sounds like something a best friend like you would do," Rydel commented.

"Well, I wouldn't be where I am with my singing career if it wasn't for her epic songwriting skills and support," He reminded her as he took off his pants. Rydel covered her eyes.

"Okay! On that note, I'm out of here." She turned around and walked out.

"You coming with?" He called after her.

"You know it!" She shouted back and with that he laughed to himself and quickly jumped in the shower to get ready.

* * *

><p>"So, Ally, are you nervous?" Dez casually asked as he took a bite of the pizza he was currently consuming, his girlfriend, Carrie beside him. Their best friend, Trish on the other side and Gavin and Piper taking up the other two chairs while one still remained empty.<p>

She gave him a look, "not particularly, no. I'm just waiting for Austin." She said and Gavin looked at her.

"Why do you need Austin here?" He asked her and she shrugged.

"He's like my good luck charm when I perform, I'm the same with him. Everything's… just better when we perform together." She smiled and Trish and Dez smiled back knowingly.

Piper nodded and raised an eyebrow in her direction, though Ally paid no mind to it.

"So Ally, I was wondering if for the winter former, you wanted to go with me," Gavin asked her, just as the crowd cheered loudly. She knew then that Austin was there and smiled. She hadn't answered Gavin's question yet so he tried to get her attention. "Ally?"

"Yeah?" She turned towards him as Austin and Rydel walked up to the table. She turned back towards him and then gave him a huge hug, Rydel greeting everybody.

"Go kill it Ally," He said to her and she nodded.

"I will now that you're here," She winked at him and with that, got on stage. "Hey everyone! How are you guys feeling tonight?" She asked the crowd who soon went wild with cheers and claps. She caught Austin's eye and he winked at her. "Okay, so first, I'm going to start off with an old favorite, ready?" The crowd cheered again and then her band (who coincidently was also Austin's band) began to play the first few chords of the song. She pumped her fist holding the mic in the air, "_hey_!" She head banged and then let her head hang for a moment, before bringing it back up again, "_hey, uh-huh_."

She then walked up the stage more and bent down so that she was more leveled with the audience, "_What I like about you, you hold me tight, tell me I'm the only one, want to come over tonight, yeah. Keep on whispering in my ear, tell me all the things I wanna hear, cuz it's true. That's what I like about you…_" She then jumped off the stage and walked to her friends. She sang to them and then went back on stage, continuing the song and rocking out until it was over. "uh huh, hey, that's what I like about you, hey!" She ended with a fist pump to the air and the crowd cheered her on. She then looked at her friends and smiled.

* * *

><p>Piper, meanwhile, had been watching her and Austin the whole time, getting even more suspicious of their friendship.<p>

"What's up your ass, Piper?" Rydel asked her as Ally started right into the next song. It wasn't a secret that Rydel wasn't a fan of Piper, whatever the reason was, she never told anyone, but they both just clashed and though it was hard for Austin, he knew his sister and knew that when she was ready, she'd say something to him about her.

"Have Austin and Ally ever had feelings for each other in the past?" Piper asked her.

"Them?" Rydel raised an eyebrow, "no, they haven't." She shrugged and leaned back, not about to out her brother to someone she didn't even like.

"I don't believe you."

"Who better to believe then his sister?" She asked her.

Piper just rolled her eyes and then focused on her boyfriend who was smiling and dancing along with Trish, Gavin and her sister to Ally's song.

"Whatever," She responded and got up to join her boyfriend in dancing with their friends.

"You really don't like her, do you?" Dez asked, taking another bite of his food.

"Not even a little bit," Rydel responded as she stole a fry from him and then grinned. He rolled his eyes.

"Well, at least you're being the protective sister." He said to her. "Points to you for that."

She smiled at her brother's best friend, "thanks Dez."

"Anytime."

* * *

><p>"Okay, for my last song, I want to invite a very special friend of mine. He's one of my best friends in the whole world, give it up for my best friend, Austin Moon!" Ally said and the crowd cheered as he came on stage, he handed her a mic but he put it down so he could talk to her.<p>

"I didn't know we were going to perform a song together."

"I know, it was a surprise." She told him and then leaned in close to whisper in his ear, "it's our special song. Well, one of them." She winked at him and he knew which one she was talking about.

"Alright," Austin smiled, he looked at Ally who smiled at him, "let's do this."

The crowd went wild again and they both stood where they needed to be.

"Everybody clap," Austin said and then they both clapped with the song, nodding their heads to the beat.

"_Little ditty about Jack & Diane, two american kids growing up in the heartland…_" Austin began singing as Ally picked up the next part and they switched back and forth until getting to the bridge, their favourite part. They took the mics off their stands and stepped closer to each other and sang together.

"_Gonna let it rock, gonna let it roll, let the Bible Belt come and save my soul.._" They moved away from each other stood on opposite ends of the stage. "_Hold on to sixteen as long as you can, changes come around real soon, make us women and men._" They sang doing their own thing and then they ended the song together, high fiving and hugging at the end.

"Give it up for Ally Dawson!" Austin said, "she's the real star here! Come guys!" He clapped with them and Ally grinned.

"And give it up for Austin Moon! The nicest guy to ever walk the planet." She said and then hugged him. "Thanks for coming out tonight! See you soon!" And with that the show was over and they both walked off the stage together, hugging and high fiving their friends.

"You guys! That was amazing!" Rydel exclaimed and then hugged Ally tight.

"Yeah! The surprise performance from Austin made it even better!" Trish agreed. "Though, either way, you totally killed it!"

Ally smiled at her and then she felt a tap on her shoulder, spinning around to see Gavin was behind her. She squealed and hugged him tight.

"Good show, Austin!" Piper said to Austin and he smiled at her.

"I'm glad you came." He said honestly and hugged her.

"Let's celebrate with ice cream, on me!" Gavin declared and everyone cheered in agreement.

* * *

><p>The next day at school, Piper decided she was going on a mission, to find out who Austin's first was. Though it was probably creepy and weird, she really didn't care at that moment. She had a list of who Austin had dated, so she decided to start at lunch time. Since Austin and Ally were going to spend that time in the music room, writing a song, she knew that he was less likely to catch her.<p>

"Kira! Hey!" She walked up to one of her classmates. She and Kira weren't very close, but she knew that she had dated Austin for a short amount of time.

"Oh hey, Piper, what's up?" She asked her.

"I need to ask you something." Piper began. "Um, it's kinda awkward but-"

"No, go ahead." Kira smiled at her encouragingly.

"Um, so I was talking to Austin the other day and you know-" Piper stopped, looking around, she spotted a bench and motioned for Kira to sit down with her. After she did, she continued, "so, we were making out and we were about to go um, farther and he stopped it."

Kira tilted her head, "I wonder why." She sounded genuinely curious.

"I have no idea, but we were talking and I asked him who his first was. We got into a little fight and he told me that he didn't remember who it was because he was drunk."

Kira shook her head, "no, he remembers it I'm sure."

"And now here's the awkward part… um, was it you?" Piper asked her.

Kira's eyes widened.

"I-I mean I know you two dated for a short period of time and-"

"No." Kira responded, her usual bubbly tone colder. "It wasn't with me."

"Then, do you-"

Kira shook her head, "I have no idea, but um, when we were dating, he would spend a lot of time with Ally and he said it was mostly for writing song and work and stuff, but soon after we broke up-" She stopped speaking suddenly. "Nevermind, it wasn't me. Sorry." With that, Kira stood up and walked away.

"No, wait, Kira!" Piper called but she ignored her. She sighed and faced forward, staring out into the courtyard, she soon found the next person she was going to talk to. She got up and walked towards her. "Hey, Brooke!" She smiled at her.

"Uh, hi?" Brooke rudely turned to her, "what do you want?"

"I want to talk to you, ask you a few questions, about my boyfriend." She said.

"Why would I talk to you?" She asked her. "You stole him from me, actually, no you didn't." She tilted her head and Piper shook her head.

"Let me just talk to you first, okay?" Piper asked and Brooke nodded, though she had rolled her eyes again. She told her what she had told Kira and then asked her question, "were you his first?"

Brooke shook her head, "no, I wish. I totally would have loved that, but you know, stupid Ally got in the way."

Piper's ears perked up. "Ally?"

Brooke nodded. "Yeah, she's such a homewrecker."

"How so?"

"Well, I was dating him and then he broke up with me, I think it was because of her, but I don't know." She shrugged and Piper had to fight the urge to roll her eyes.

"Okay, thanks for whatever this was," Piper stood up and waved at her. Letting out a sigh, she decided to see who else had dated Austin when she realized she was done. No other girl really mattered to her. Though, the answer she desperately wanted, she still hadn't gotten.

* * *

><p>"This song is going to rock," Austin smiled at Ally as they finished up their songwriting session for the day. "Everyone's gonna love it."<p>

"Well, duh, it's us. When don't they love it?" She teased, flipper her hair behind her shoulder.

"Good point," Austin agreed and then they both stood up. He hugged her tight, "thanks." He quietly told her.

She hugged him back, "anytime."

Then they broke apart and Ally bit her lip for a moment, "can I ask you something?" She asked him and he nodded.

"Sure, anything."

"Are you um happy with Piper?" She tilted her head and he felt his heart drop for a moment.

"Y-yeah why wouldn't I be?"

She shrugged, "at my show the other day you two just seemed… distant. And then after it was over, when we got ice cream, you both still seemed a bit distant."

"That's because we had gotten into a fight before I came over to your house, that's all."

"A fight? What about?"

He shook his head, "it's stupid, really stupid."

Ally gave him a reassuring smile, "trust me, nothing's too stupid for me." She assured him.

Austin sighed and sat down again, he then looked up at her, "she asked me who my first was."

Ally nodded, "so then, why don't you tell her?"

"I don't know, I mean…" He trailed off and she nodded again, sitting down beside him.

"I get it, I totally get it," She whispered, laying her head on his shoulder and that was all that needed to be said between them.

* * *

><p>"So," Austin said, smiling over at his girlfriend. It was after school and they were sitting in his living room, watching a movie. She smiled back at him, though she could see his was a bit faked. "What do you feel like eating for dinner tonight?"<p>

She laughed, "dinner? That's hours away."

"I know, but I'm hungry and thinking about dinner is kinda getting me super excited for it."

She laughed, "you are one strange boy." She told him.

"I know." He thought about when he first met Ally and she had said the same thing to him. Then again, their first meeting he had been playing the drums with corn dogs so, he could kinda see where she thought that. He laughed quietly to himself. "But I'm also a hungry strange boy." He said, lightly nudging her with his arm that was wrapped around her.

Piper laughed again and then kissed him, it started out slow, but then soon started to build up. She broke the kiss and looked at him, "maybe you're hungry for something else in the meantime?" She asked him and he just blinked at her, kissing her back, but not as hard or passionately as she had wanted him to. She broke the kiss and looked at him in disbelief, "what the hell Austin? Why won't you go further with me?"

"Didn't we talk about this already? It's too fast, I don't want to."

"What kind of teenager who lives in this time period doesn't want to have sex with their girlfriend?" She demanded. "Unless they were hiding something." She raised an eyebrow and gave him a suspicious look.

"Hiding something like what? I'm cheating on you? With who? The only other girls I'm ever with other than you these days are Ally, Trish and Rydel. And since Rydel's my sister and that's gross and Trish is like a sister to me, also gross and Ally's in a relationship of her own, there's literally nobody else to cheat on you with." He rolled his eyes at the end of his statement.

"You know, I talked to Kira and Brooke today, you're exes." She said and Austin just looked at her, shrugging his shoulders. "They both you said your relationship ended because of Ally and why is that? What did Ally do?"

"Ally didn't do anything, okay? They were both just jealous of all the time I spent with her. Well, Brooke mostly, Kira and I decided we were better off as just friends and why is that any of your business?" He was starting to get annoyed and Piper could see it. But then he realized something, "why were you talking to my ex girlfriends?"

"Because I-" Piper began, but then stopped speaking. He just glared at her, "fine, I wanted to know who your first was."

"I already told you I don't remember! I was drunk!" He yelled at her, "what the fuck, Piper?"

"I think you're lying!" She yelled back at him. "I think you know who it was and I think I know too!"

"Whatever," He muttered and sat down to face the movie again. He didn't say anything for a good three minutes.

"I think I should go."

"Yeah." Austin agreed, "I think so too."

Piper didn't even say goodbye as she just got up and left, the door slamming shut behind her. Austin was so angry he wasn't even paying attention to the movie anymore. He soon felt someone sit down beside him and turned his head to see Rydel had taken the spot beside him.

"That was… intense." She said.

"Yeah," He nodded, "but whatever, she's just being jealous for no reason." He shrugged.

"Look, I know it's not in my place to tell you anything, but I think you should be honest with her and tell her who you're first was." Rydel's tone was gentle, she put her hand on his knee and he looked at her.

He was sort of telling Piper the truth.

He had been drunk.

But he also knew very well who it was with.

He just didn't want to tell her.

He stayed silent for a few minutes, but then he spoke again, "what if… I told you I was kinda still in love with her?"

Rydel smiled at him, "that I already know." She told him and then she hugged him. "And there's nothing wrong with it. But you can't lead Piper on if it's not how you truly feel about her."

"I know," Austin sighed, "but I do truly like her."

"You just don't love her." Rydel finished his thought and he nodded.

"Exactly."

Rydel just hugged him again, her head on his shoulder as they continued to watch the movie. Austin realizing that Rydel was a hundred percent right, knew that he needed to be honest about his feelings. With not only his girlfriend, but his best friend as well.

* * *

><p><em>Ally giggled her hair flying behind her as Austin spun her around, "why do you always do that?" She asked him once he had caught her.<em>

_"It's fun for me," He explained and then spun her around. "The store is empty, we're listening to an epic song and.. I don't know, I felt the moment, I always do."_

_She smiled at him, "how romantic of you." And then she leaned up and softly kissed him. He kissed her back, smiling against her lips and then kissed her deeper._

_She slowly broke it off and he leaned his forehead against hers._

_"Last day of school tomorrow before winter break," She smiled "and your birthday."_

_"Hell to the yeah," Austin joked. "I'll be fourteen, about damn time dude." He joked and she laughed._

_"Well, I'll catch up with you soon enough," She assured him._

_"Hurry up," He jokingly whispered before kissing her again. She giggled and then kissed him back, breaking it off._

_"Come on, let's continue writing this song," She whispered and he nodded._

_"Fine." He pouted and she kissed him again before positioning her fingers on the keys of the piano, she began to play a beautiful melody and he smiled at her, enjoying listening to her play._

_She stopped playing after two more minutes and then he wrapped an arm around her, kissing the top of her head, "that was beautiful."_

_"Thanks, I wrote it," She told him and he looked at her about to say something when the door opened and costumer walked in._

_"Ah, hold that thought," She said, her finger against his lips. He smiled at her and nodded._

_"Okay." He whispered._

_"Okay." She smiled back._

* * *

><p><em>Hey! Big news, in exactly three months from today, I will be a legal adult! Whoo-hoo. <em>

_(For anyone wondering, my birthday is December 29th, hehe)_

_Yeah, I'm excited about it and thought I'd share. Haha._

_Okay! Anyway, tell me what you think, reviews would be awesome! :]_


	2. Chapter 2

_Secret's out. Oops._

_But you guys kinda already knew who it was anyways (Austin's first, good guess)._

_Um, there will be more clues and stuff for why they broke up. It's not going to be how it was on the show, just for the record. _

_It's kind of a sad chapter, sorry. I was feeling angsty. Austin (my boyfriend, not Moon) and I got into a fight today. So... yeah._

_I also got the Halloween idea from Girl Meets World. I was watching it and I thought it was cute, so I used it. There will be more moments like that, but obviously not for Halloween. I technically don't own that idea, for the record. _

_Um... and also the flashbacks are random. They're just there to show their past relationship. The fight and him admitting what he did sets up the storyline. It's not going to be a long story, maybe a few chapters, less than ten for sure._

_Andddd yeah. I can't think of anything else to post. I'll fix any errors later. I'm so used to writing Ross/Laura that I found myself writing their names instead of Austin/Ally. Oh and I put Ellington in it because Rydel needed a boyfriend and I can't imagine her with anybody else. So I think Dez (even though he's out of character in this) will be like Rocky... or I'll add Rocky in later. I don't know. I haven't decided yet on what I want to do._

_So anyway, enjoy. I own nothing._

* * *

><p><em>"Oh my god, Austin! Austin!" He heard his name as soon as he had walked into the store. He looked up and saw Ally behind the counter, she quickly went over to him and grabbed his hand that wasn't holding his phone, bouncing on her feet excitedly.<em>

_"Whoa, energetic much? What's up?" He asked her._

_"Remember how my dad was in the hospital?" He nodded. Her father had gone to the hospital just a few days before because he was feeling sick. Being the hypochondriac he was, he had insisted on going because he really thought something was wrong. It had worried Ally to the point she'd barely gotten any sleep since hearing about it. "Well, the tests came back, negative, there's nothing wrong with him!" She smiled big and he hugged her tight._

_"That's great news Ally!" He squeezed her tight and she giggled._

_"Excuse me? Can I have some help please?" A woman asked and Ally nodded, moving away from Austin to help her. She turned and gave him the thumbs up. He gave her one back and then walked behind the counter. He decided he'd help her organize her song books (as particular and as anal as she was, she still appreciated his help), when he found a piece of paper that had fallen out of one of the books._

_Curious, he looked up to see Ally was still with the costumer, so he unfolded it and read it, his eyes widening._

_Her father had lied to her._

_He had also hidden the results of the test away in one of the books, probably hoping Ally wouldn't have been able to find it._

_Swallowing hard, he quickly folded up the paper again and put it in his back pocket just as Ally walked over to him. He gave her an uneasy smile._

_"What did you just hide?" She asked, raising her eyebrow._

_"Um, it was nothing," He spoke quickly._

_"Austin-"_

_"Ally." He said in the same tone she used. He walked towards her and put his arm around her, "don't worry about it." And then he kissed her, poking her side she giggled and kissed him back._

_"Okay." She said and then kissed him one more time before she broke it to continue working._

_He just sighed behind her and ran his fingers through his hair, looking up just as Dez walked inside the store, Trish talking about something behind him._

_"Oh! Dez! Thank god, you're here, I need to talk to you." Austin said quickly as he jumped off the counter and up to his best friend. He turned to Trish, "keep Ally company for a few minutes." He told her and with that, grabbed Dez's wrist, pulling him along as he went outside the store and sat down on top of one of the tables._

_"You know, I've noticed you have a habit of sitting on top of things," Dez commented as he sat down in a chair. "One of these days it's gonna be something that'll burn your ass and teach you not to do it anymore."_

_"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Austin waved off his comment. "I've got a problem and I don't know what to do about it."_

_"What's the problem?" Dez asked him._

_He pulled the paper he had from his back pocket and handed it to Dez who slowly took it from it and looked up at him for a second, before looking back down at the paper. "Mr. Dawson told her he was fine, he's obviously not fine."_

_"But he told her he was?" Dez asked and Austin nodded._

_"She told me that literally less than five minutes before I found that. It fell out of one of the books I was organizing. Or that I had started to organize." He shrugged, "why would her father lie to her? I mean, I get it's hard to tell your daughter you're sick, but he's all she has and… I don't know, I just, I don't want anything bad to happen." He looked away, biting down on his lower lip._

_"Dude, it's a lot for a guy our age to take in," Dez responded, handing him the folded up paper, "but you have to tell her the truth, if you don't, she's not only going to hate her father for not telling her, but you for keeping it from her too."_

_"I know." Austin sighed, "I just wish it wasn't something this major."_

_"I know, bro, I know." Dez responded and then Austin nodded, looking down at the folded up paper in his hands._

* * *

><p>Austin watched Ally laugh with Gavin, fighting back the anger and jealousy he felt inside of him. He hated that she was with him, he hated that she was so happy, he hated that he was still with Piper and worst of all, he hated that he was just unhappy about everything regarding love at the moment.<p>

"Whoa dude, why don't you get one of Darth Vader's lightsabers and just knock his head off his body instead of trying to do it through your eyes with that stare you've got going on," He heard and turned to see Dez was beside him. He saw the look on Austin's face and then walked a few feet to an empty bench, taking a seat, he patted the spot beside him. "Talk to me, what's on your mind?"

"I got in a fight with Piper yesterday." Austin told him.

"About what?"

"Well we were making out, you know and we were going to take it to the next level, but I stopped it. She was more curious than mad and asked me who my first was because I had told her I wasn't a virgin. I told her I didn't remember because I was drunk, which as you know is half true. And I don't know, she kept asking and I got mad and she left last night all pissed off and shit." Austin explained.

"You don't want to admit who your first was?"

Austin shook his head, "I feel like it's something that's private, I mean, I don't want to hide anything from her, but I was talking to Rydel and she was the one who made me realize I was still in love with my first and not Piper, I mean, I like Piper a lot, I just don't love her. At least not yet."

"You can't really ever let go of your first love," Dez pointed out, "I mean look at Brooke, I'm pretty sure you're her first love and she won't stop bothering you."

"We dated for like three days, she's crazy."

"Yeah I heard she went off to a mental institution when she was younger, but anyway, that's neither here or there." Dez said shaking his head. "I just think you need to be up front and honest with Piper and stop leading her on."

"Yeah, I know." Austin chewed on his bottom lip, "but the other girl, she's happy and in a relationship."

"It's hard, bro, I get it, but it's better than using Piper as a toy, you know? Being honest is definitely the way to go."

Austin nodded, "I should also be honest with um, you know…" He trailed off.

"Yeah." Dez agreed, "you probably should be honest with her as well."

* * *

><p>He felt like he was going to blow up. Or burst.<p>

Sitting beside Ally while they wrote a song, the familiar scent of her perfume that he had loved so much when they were together and everything else was becoming too much for him to handle.

He abruptly stood up and walked towards the door.

"Where are you going?" She asked him.

"Home." He responded.

"Home? We're not finished with this song yet." Ally responded, she looked at him, "are you okay? You've been kinda… spazzy or out of it since yesterday."

"I'm fine, okay?" He snapped at her.

"You're not fine." Ally responded back, "you're moody and upset, what's wrong?"

He stared at her, for a few seconds. Then he just shook his head and turned away, his hand going on the knob, he tried to open the door, but Ally quickly blocked his way out.

"Austin?" She sounded hurt. He didn't want her to feel like it was her fault. He needed to make that clear.

"I'm sorry, it's not you okay?" He said and she bit her lip, nodding her head.

It was half a lie. He was kinda upset because he wasn't with her, but it wasn't her fault. When they had broken up it had been a mutual agreement.

They heard a phone go off and he pulled it out of his pocket to read the message. It was from Piper.

"I have to go, Piper texted me."

He saw an emotion flash through her eyes, but she slowly nodded her head and then stepped aside to let him leave.

He hugged her, just needing her to know without words that he would be okay. Even if he didn't quite believe it himself yet.

With that, he stepped out of the practice room and walked down the stairs. He said goodbye to Dez who was sitting on the counter with Carrie and Trish, who was just reading a magazine. He walked all the way to the beach club, where he soon found his girlfriend, sitting by herself at a table. She was looking down, picking at something when he approached her and she looked up.

"Hey." He said softly.

"Hey," She responded, standing up to give him a hug. "Look, I um, I just wanted to tell you I'm sorry." She said as they sat down. "I didn't mean to bring up your past, it wasn't right, I shouldn't have done that."

He was surprised, to say the least, but he wasn't going to let it show.

He just shrugged and gave her a small smile, "um it's okay."

"I just don't want us to fight anymore okay?" She said and he shrugged, nodding his head slowly. He couldn't promise that they wouldn't. Sometimes couples fought, it was just the way the world worked. "And um, I'm sorry I went to speak to your exes, I shouldn't have done that either."

"S'okay." He took her hand in his and turned it over, silently playing with her fingers. She noticed he didn't lace them like he always did.

"Do you something to eat? Like a smoothie or something?"

He nodded, realizing that he really needed a distraction. "Yeah, I'd really like that and then maybe we can just go to the beach? Have some us time?"

She smiled, "absolutely." She got up to order their smoothies and he realized that he hadn't even returned the smile.

He looked around, leaned back in his seat and let out big sigh.

* * *

><p>It had been a long few hours. Ally was now back at home, watching a movie in the living room with Gavin. Her head was on his chest and his arms were wrapped around her. She kept shifting, causing him to move his hands and she realized that it wasn't comfortable, she didn't like the position at all.<p>

"What's wrong, babe?" Gavin asked her. Her eyes filled with tears and she had to bite her lip hard to keep from full on crying.

She took a deep breath and sat up to face him.

"I don't know," She responded, "I think I'm just having one of those days," She shrugged and he nodded holding his arms out towards her. She bent down and gave him a hug, resting her head on his chest.

"Do you want me to make you some hot cocoa?" He asked her.

She smiled and nodded, "with whipped cream and fudge on top?"

He kissed her forehead, "absolutely." He responded back and with that got up to go to the kitchen just as she reached her phone to check her Twitter account. A tweet in particular made her heart stop and her stomach drop as she read what Austin had written.

_It's not the same. Nothing is and won't ever be anymore._

She had a feeling she knew exactly what he was referring to and made a mental note to talk to him about it the second she got the chance.

Though, starting off by talking with her best friend, probably wasn't a bad option either.

_Did you see Austin's twitter?_ She texted her.

It took less than fifteen seconds for a response to come through.

_Yeah and I think I know who it's about,_ Trish responded back, sending another message a moment later. 'His relationship with Piper isn't going so well. He's pulling away from her.'

_Is that why he's been so moody?_ Ally sent back.

_I think so. Dez told me she asked who his first was and he refuses to tell her. That caused a whole lot of issues_.

Ally didn't know how to respond to that, but before she could, Trish sent her another text.

_I think he misses you._

And something told her, Trish wasn't the only one who thought that either.

* * *

><p><em>"Okay, I can do this, it's so not a big deal." Ally said as she turned to face Trish. "Why are you making me sleep over your house on the creepiest night of the year?"<em>

_Trish grinned, "because it's fun, duh."_

_Ally rolled her eyes and then sat down on Trish's bed, "let's talk about something that will get my mind off of this."_

_"Okay, well, let's wait for Rydel to come back and then we can talk about boys!" Trish squealed. Ally raised her eyebrow and then rolled her eyes._

_"Why? I already have a boyfriend. Rydel does too, you missy are the only single one." She pushed her shoulder with her finger as if she was making a point. Trish just rolled her eyes as Rydel walked back into the room._

_"What are we talking about ladies?" She asked them._

_"Boys!" Trish smiled brightly._

_"Oh?" Rydel put her stuff down and then walked over to them. They all collectively sat down on the floor in a circle, "well let's start with you Ally. How's your relationship with my brother going?"_

_She smiled, "perfectly. I like him," She blushed and looked up again, "a lot."_

_"Yeah?" Trish asked, "how's that whole songwriting thing?"_

_"To be honest, it's a little hard because he doesn't want to hurt my feelings even though I've told him many times its okay, but…" She shrugged, "I don't know, I guess he's just insecure about it or something."_

_Trish nodded, opening her mouth to speak, when the lights suddenly went out._

_They all screamed, grabbing onto each other and then let go._

_"What is going on?" Ally asked as the door to Trish's room opened and her dad walked in._

_"There's a power outage, don't worry, we'll get that fixed." He explained to his daughter who just nodded her head._

_"He's very punctual," Rydel commented._

_Ally shook her head and then walked over to the corner, she brought her knees up to her chest._

_"What's wrong?" Rydel asked her, "are you okay?"_

_"I'm scared," She admitted. "I don't like staying away from home and… I don't know, I'm just scared."_

_"It's okay." Rydel said and hugged her, rocking her back and forth._

_"It's also Halloween and Halloween is super creepy." Ally said and Rydel laughed._

_"You're not wrong about that," She assured her._

_There was a knock on the window and Trish suddenly let out a shriek._

_"What the-" Ally looked over Rydel's shoulder as Trish pointed in fear towards the window. Rydel, being the bravest one, opened the curtain and saw the masked people. She rolled her eyes, recognizing the brown shaggy hair and the blonde all over the place hair. Dez was just standing beside them a smile on his face and waving like a goof._

_"It's just the boys," She said, opening the window for them. "Take off your mask ugly face," She said to her brother._

_Austin just stuck his tongue out and then leaned into the window more. "Where's Ally?" He asked, after taking his mask off and shaking out his hair._

_"Right here," She said, appearing behind Rydel. He smiled and she smiled back._

_"What are you guys doing here?" Trish asked._

_"We were going home after trick or treating and wanted to stop by, see what you guys were up to," Rydel's boyfriend, Ellington said as he leaned against the window more._

_"Well, we were having a girl talk, which you interrupted," Trish crankily told him._

_"Actually the power outage kind of ruined it," Rydel said._

_Austin looked at Ally, his hands going to the window ledge, he leaned in and kissed her softly. She smiled and then kissed him back, her hand on his cheek as she pulled him in more._

_"I feel so much better," She said as soon as they had broken apart. She and Rydel laughed._

_"Hey Trish, I'm not gonna kiss you," Dez shook his head and Trish made a face._

_"I wouldn't kiss you if you were the last guy on earth."_

_"Trust me, the feelings are mutual," Dez responded._

_Ellington leaned in and quickly kissed Rydel. "Happy Halloween." He smiled and she playfully stuck her tongue out giving him a kiss._

_"You know, it's not so scary anymore." Laura said, looking around. "Once you take the mask off everything, it's-it's okay."_

_Austin looked at her meaningfully. She had no idea what it meant, but he exchanged a look with Dez and knew something was up._

_"Well, we gotta get going, but we'll see you in the morning." Dez said and the other two boys nodded._

_"Bye." Ally whispered, kissing Austin again._

_"Bye." He whispered back and with that was gone._

_"You okay?" Trish asked her, looking at her and she nodded._

_"Let's tell ghost stories," She smiled and then Trish smiled back, sharing a look with Rydel._

_"How scary do you want them?" She asked._

_"As scary as you can make them." Ally looked around, "nothing can scare me anymore."_

_"You sure about that?" Rydel asked her._

_She looked in between her two best friends, "for now, I'm positive." She smiled big._

* * *

><p>A few days after he had fixed things with Piper, Austin was back in Sonic Boom. Since no one was there to watch the store, he and Ally had to write downstairs, instead of the practice room.<p>

She was playing the piano and he was beside her, doing the same thing, when their hands touched and they paused, looking at each other, they just blinked and didn't break eye contact, moving closer.

"Hey guys!" Dez's voice scared them and they immediately moved away to look at each other.

"Um, hey, Dez…" Austin trailed off, scratching the back of his head. "What's up, buddy?"

He looked like he knew what had almost happened, but if he did, he didn't address it.

"I came to say hey, Trish and Carrie are working and I'm bored, so… hey," He nodded his head and Austin sighed.

"Hey Fuckface."

Ally giggled. "You still haven't outgrown that nickname yet have you?" She asked and he shook his head.

"Not even close," Austin responded, getting off the piano bench, he walked towards the counter, to absentmindedly look through the magazines that were there.

"Everything okay?" Dez asked.

"No." He responded and then realizing that Ally was still there quickly changed his answer. "I mean, yes, I'm fine, completely fine."

"Don't lie to me or us," Ally softly told him tilting her head in Dez's direction. "I know something's bothering you, you've been out of it for days now and I saw that tweet you posted the other day. You shouldn't have done that if there's nothing wrong." She pointed out.

Damn, she had noticed. He was hoping she hadn't.

"It's nothing, Ally, really." He insisted.

She looked at Dez.

"He's lying." Dez said and Austin looked at him in disbelief. He just shrugged.

"What is going on?" She asked him.

"I said nothing's wrong, Dez stay out of this." Austin glared at him.

"No, it's time you speak up and finally say what's on your mind." Dez responded, surprising them both. He rolled his eyes. "Seriously, Austin, grow some balls and tell her how you feel."

"Austin?" Ally looked at him, her eyes a bit hurt. He didn't want her to hurt.

"I…I'm just confused and angry and upset and heartbroken and jealous." Austin told her.

"Why?" She asked.

That one word question was enough to set him off.

"Because I'm still in love with you!" He yelled at her and then he turned towards Dez, "there, you happy?" He snapped at him.

"You're in love with her?" They heard another voice and he turned to see Piper was standing in the entrance to the store. She looked shocked, hurt and very upset. Not that he blamed her or anything.

He turned to Ally in time to see her shake her head, tears in her eyes as she ran up the stairs and into the practice room. Then he looked at Dez, "really, I hope you're fucking happy." He said and with that walked out of the back door, slamming it behind him.

He stormed away until he was a few feet from the store and then sat down on the ground, his hands going to his face he just let it all out.

He cried.

* * *

><p>"Ally's not answering, Dez isn't answering, Trish's phone is off and I can't reach Piper either." Rydel sighed, running her fingers through her curly hair. She looked up at her boyfriend, "and Austin hasn't been seen or heard from in hours."<p>

"Do you know what happened?" Ellington asked her.

She shook her head, "not all of it. I just know there was a huge blow up at the store today. Austin probably blurted out something he shouldn't have and Ally got hurt. I have no idea what's up Piper's ass though."

Ellington nodded, "try calling Austin or Ally again." He said and Rydel nodded.

She tried Ally first, only for it to go to voicemail again.

Then she tried Austin.

"Hello?" He answered on the second ring.

"Austin! Where have you been? I've been worried sick about you!" She sat up and held the phone against her ear tighter. "No one's heard from you since this afternoon, are you okay?"

"No." He responded. "I fucked up so badly."

"What do you mean?" She asked him.

"I'm such an idiot. Dude, I blew up on Ally because she asked me a question and Piper overheard and I just hurt them both I think, I don't know." His voice was running a mile a minute and Rydel realized that if she didn't get to him something was going to happen that wouldn't be good.

"Where are you?"

"By the beach club," He responded.

"Did you drive?"

"I walked."

"Okay, stay there, Ellington and I are on our way." She said.

"Okay." He responded and then hung up. She stared at her phone for a second before looking up at Ellington.

"We have to go get him, I don't want him to be alone right now." She said and he agreed.

"Yeah, no problem," He got up and grabbed his keyes, following her out of the door.

* * *

><p>Austin ran his fingers through his hair, pulling on the strands as he thought about everything that had happened that day.<p>

He let Ally know how he felt about her, while simultaneously breaking his girlfriend's heart.

Oh and he went off on his best friend too. That part was also pretty fucked up.

"Austin!" He heard and turned around to see Rydel and Ellington were running towards him. He stood up and Rydel immediately hugged him.

"I'm such a baby," He said, "I cried today."

"Why does that make you a baby?" She asked him.

"I don't know." He responded. "I'm not supposed to cry." He looked down and then back up at Rydel.

"What happened today?" She softly asked him.

"You know how I told you I might still be in love with Ally?" He asked. She nodded. "Well, she and Dez kinda pushed me to tell them what was wrong and I guess I just blew up because I yelled at her and told her I was still in love with her. Piper overheard and… yeah. I don't know. I walked out before I could talk to anybody." He shrugged. "Oh and I also yelled at Dez too."

"Oh, Austin." Rydel hugged him. "You know how you get and Ally and Dez know too. I'm sure Dez isn't mad at you and Ally… well, she's probably processing everything and taking it all in. As for Piper, you need to go talk to her."

"How? I just told basically told the girl I'm in love with that I'm still in love with her right in front of my girlfriend, how messed up is that?" He asked.

"Pretty messed up," Ellington agreed, "but you still have to talk to them both at some point."

He nodded, "I know." He sighed. "Can we go home?"

"Yeah," Rydel nodded, "of course."

* * *

><p>Back when he was fifteen, everything was so much easier.<p>

Well, for the most part.

He didn't know what love was then. He had no reason to blurt it out.

Though he did have an undiagnosed mental disorder then, but that wasn't discovered until a few months later.

He sat outside his house, on the front steps, his long, shaggy blonde hair wet from the shower, thinking to himself, when he heard footsteps and looked up to see Ally was standing in front of him.

"Ally?"

She nodded and stepped forward. "I-we need to talk." She said.

He stood up, putting his hands in his pockets.

"I know, I just wasn't really ready for it to happen so soon."

"Well, it has to happen sometime and I really think now is a good time to do it." Ally responded. "Um, did you mean what you said earlier at the store today?"

He stared at her, "what do you think?"

"I don't know what to think, Austin. Honestly. We tried it before, it didn't work out. Why would you just say that to me?" Her eyes filled with tears and her voice broke. "You can't be in love with me, it's been such a long time since we broke up."

"So? Why does that have to matter Ally? I'm in love with you. You act like that's such a huge fucking surprise."

"You can't. Okay? You just can't love me." Her voice broke more the more she spoke.

"Why not?" He demanded. "I know you better than anybody else and you know me. We were each other's first, kiss, boyfriend/girlfriend, I mean we had sex with each other for the first time too-"

"Yeah and if you remember, we were drunk!" She blurted.

"We did drink, but we do remember every damn detail of that night." He reminded her. "Not drunk enough to forget."

Not drunk enough to forget was starting to become how he saw the world. He couldn't forget anything if he tried. He wasn't "drunk" enough to.

"I'm with Gavin and after what Piper heard today, I'm not so sure about you being with her, but you can't do this. Okay? You can't."

"Why not?" Austin demanded.

"Because Austin, I don't-" She paused, looking down and then she just decided to come out with it. "I love Gavin okay? And I want to be with him." She stared right at him.

He swallowed hard. "Okay."

"And when you talk to Piper just tell her it was a misunderstanding or something that you were lying-"

"But I'm not!" He yelled at her. "Don't you fucking see that?"

"I'm sorry, but Austin. I can't." She shook her head, backing away from him. "I can't."

He nodded, "yeah." He responded and with that turned around to go back inside the house. "See you around, Ally."

"Bye." She whimpered, her voice shaking with tears. He knew they were streaming down her face.

He didn't respond, instead he just opened the door and slammed it shut behind him just as he heard her crying.

"What happened out there?" Rydel asked him.

"The end of… something." He responded and then went up the stairs to his room, slamming the door shut behind him.

* * *

><p>Ally watched him leave, the door slamming shut and brought her hand to her mouth, crying into the hoodie she was wearing. After looking at it, she realized it was Austin's. He probably realized it too but just didn't say anything.<p>

That just made her cry harder, her heart breaking into millions of pieces.

How she and Austin were going to get over this, she wasn't sure. Getting over their breakup had been hard enough.

The door opened and she saw Rydel step out. Before she had even turned from shutting the door, Ally had run up the stairs to her and then just as she turned, Ally wrapped her arms around her, crying into her shoulder.

"Shh, it's okay." Rydel whispered, "calm down okay? Breathe. Take a few deep breaths."

"I c-can't." Ally stammered.

"Just try to calm down." Rydel rubbed her back and then slowly led her to the steps. "You have to calm down."

"I just let him walk away." Ally whimpered.

"Why?" Rydel softly asked her.

She didn't answer for a few moments and Rydel let her take her time. She was grateful for that.

"Because I-" She stopped, calming down after a few moments and then opened her mouth to speak again.

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me, just tell yourself." Rydel told her, "don't answer that question for me, just answer it for yourself, if that makes sense."

Ally nodded. "Okay." She whispered.

* * *

><p><em>Ally turned over only to see Austin was lying right beside her, his eyes open as he smiled at her, his and going to her hair.<em>

_"Hey." He said, his voice raspy with sleep._

_"Hey." She smiled back and he leaned in to softly kiss her. She giggled and held him in place, softly kissing him back._

_He broke it off._

_"Are you okay?" She asked him, since he looked up at the ceiling, a sad look on his face._

_He looked at her, a small smile on his face, "I'm great."_

_She nodded and cuddled closer to him, her head on his shoulder, "what do you want to do today?" She asked._

_"Mind if we just stay in bed all day? Watch some TV? Not… the other thing…" He trailed off. She giggled since his cheeks were turning pink._

_"You're the one that said it not me," She reminded him, kissing his cheek._

_He rolled his eyes and then moved so that he was hovering above her, "one day." He whispered._

_She nodded, "one day." She said back and he leaned down to give her a meaningful and deep kiss._

_"Let's watch some tv," She suggested and he nodded, his forehead against hers for a moment, his eyes closed._

_"Okay." He got off her and lay down beside her, she cuddled up against him, his arm wrapped tightly around her. He then turned on the tv, Austin of course choosing a cartoon._

_"You really like Tom and Jerry don't you?" She asked._

_"Hell yeah, he's a boss."_

_"Tom or Jerry?"_

_"Jerry. I've always liked Jerry more. I mean sure he's mean to Tom, but come on, he's such a boss."_

_Ally laughed. "Yeah he is pretty cool."_

_"Who's your favourite cartoon?"_

_"From Tom and Jerry?"_

_"Doesn't have to be Tom and Jerry," He told her._

_She thought for a moment. "I think it would have to be Buster, from Tiny Toons, I think. The blue bunny. Bugs' nephew or whatever. I looove him."_

_He raised an eyebrow, "you like blue bunnies?"_

_"You like mice that torture cats."_

_"Good point, you win."_

_She giggled. He kissed her._

_He broke it to watch the show, but she shook her head and kissed him again, bringing him closer, almost like he was on top of her._

_He smiled against her lips and kissed her back._

_She opened her eyes to peek at the show and giggled, "Jerry just made Tom run into the wall."_

_He laughed with her, his lips still on hers._

_"You find that amusing?" He asked._

_"You don't? I thought you loved this show."_

_"I do, but it's more amusing to see you amused, if that makes sense."_

_Ally nodded, "it makes perfect sense. Like Austin… sense. If that makes sense."_

_"Ally sense." He responded and she giggled._

_She tried to stick her tongue out but then realized if she did that, she'd be licking Austin's lips, literally._

_He gently poked her side and she gasp-laughed, which then allowed to kiss her deeper, his tongue sliding against hers. She let out a moan and pulled him closer, pressing her body against his._

_He knew he had to break off the kiss at that point._

_"Why did you stop?" She pouted._

_"Because if I didn't, I wouldn't have been able to stop just there." He responded and she nodded in understanding, giving him a kiss on the cheek._

_They then settled down to watch more cartoons, both with content smiles on their faces._

* * *

><p>Austin knew he had to make a few apologies.<p>

He wasn't sure about Ally since he was now kind of pissed at her.

But he was pretty sure he had to for Dez and Piper, and maybe Ally. She was still his best friend after all.

He stared up at the ceiling and angrily hit his bed.

Apologies were the last thing he wanted to do.

But he knew he had to start with his best friend.

He picked up his phone and dialed the familiar number.

"What do you want?" Dez answered.

"Dude, I know you're pissed at me, but I'm calling to apologize. I shouldn't have yelled at you today."

Dez sighed, "I know. I mean, that you're sorry about it. But honestly, I was more worried about you. I haven't seen an outburst like that come from you since… well, you know."

Austin nodded, "yeah, and spending a month in the hospital after that really made me see… things differently. But seriously, I'm really sorry. It was just me displacing my anger I guess."

"Okay, well, you're forgiven. Have you talked to Ally or Piper yet?"

"Piper, no. All yes." Austin ran his fingers through his hair. "I know I have to apologize to Piper, but Ally and I got into another fight and-I don't know everything's so messed up." He fell back onto his bed and stared up at the ceiling again.

"I think you need some bro time," Dez said. "Come over, we'll play video games and watch scary movies and do guy shit. It'll help clear your head."

Austin smiled, Dez always knew what he needed. "Thanks bro."

"Anytime, see you soon?"

"Yeah, definitely." He responded and with that, hung up the phone. He got all the things he needed and with that walked down the stairs. "See ya Rydel, I'm going to Dez's. We talked, I apologized, we're good now."

"Okay, text me when you get there," She said. He nodded, understanding why and then reached over to hug her. She hugged him back and with that, he left, the walk to Dez's helping him clear his mind as much as he could before he saw his best friend.

He had a lot of thinking he had to get done and not to mention the song he and Ally needed to have finished by his next show at the beach club.

He sighed and realized he had no idea how he was going to get it all done in time.

He just knew he had to somehow make it happen. No matter what.

* * *

><p><em> It's a quarter to five am. I need to go to sleep now. <em>

_Reviews would be awesome, brah._

_Much love xx_


	3. Chapter 3

_Okay, so to be honest. This story is angsty. Or, at least it will be for a while... um, this chapter kinda gives away a bit of Austin and Rydel's past. And I'm going to be honest, they're past is pretty much based on my life. Well, mine and my best friend, Sydney's. What I'm writing about them is stuff that we both have gone through so... yeah. I know it's emotional and I know it's... I don't know very un-Austin like, but this isn't going to be true to the show. Some parts will be, but not all of it. _

_Also, I made Austin the more emotional one (for now) for a reason. Ally's gonna have her moment too. What happened to her father was pretty.. emotional. _

_And again, sorry for the emotional stuff. My boyfriend and I broke up so... yeah. I'm feeling a bit emotional these days. Just a little bit though. Hah._

_Feel free to ask me anything you want. you've got my info by now, haha._

_There is a lot of fighting in this, but I thought the end was sweet. _

_Enjoy. I own nothing, but some ideas. The characters are not mine. Literally. _

* * *

><p>Ally wanted to smack herself. She wasn't even sure why she said what she said to Austin.<p>

After she had calmed down and Rydel made sure it was okay for her to leave without another breakdown, Ally had spent the walk home thinking. She thought about how Austin had told her he was still in love with her.

She thought about their past, when they had dated, how happy they were.

She thought about one particular moment in the summer before grade nine, when she and her father had gotten into a huge fight and she had walked out on him. She went to the park by her house and just sat in a swing and took the time to just think. Austin had known where she was going to be, almost like he had read her mind. Or (as he liked to call them) "Ally senses." He had found her at the park and sat down in the swing next to her. They hadn't said a word, he just let her think, in silence. He did it with her.

And then when she had asked how he knew where she was, he just responded, "this is where you always go when you're upset."

Her heart had filled with so much warmth that he had remembered that she started to cry again and he hugged her, held her tight, ever let her go.

Her eyes filled with tears as she thought of that night, one of the best nights of her life (though it had started out pretty shitty).

Just as she had walked up the front door to her house, she had decided she didn't want to go home just yet.

So, she went to the park.

She paused before getting on the swing, because she saw a very familiar person sitting there.

She debated leaving, but decided against it, since she didn't even want to be home.

"What are you doing here?" She gently called.

A blonde head was lifted and the owner of said head, looked at her.

"What are you doing here?" He asked her.

She looked down at her red painted nails and took a deep breath, before looking up at him.

"I asked you first." She said, stepping closer to him. She took the swing beside him and leaned her head against the swing railing.

He looked up at the starry sky.

"You know how you told me once that it was where you'd go, when you just wanted to think or when you were upset?" She nodded, he looked at her, "well, there was a time where I needed that you know special feeling too, to have a place I could go to whenever I needed to, and I wanted to know what was so special about this place. Why you had picked it." He looked right at her. She gave him a nod and he shrugged, "so I realized it was because it was so peaceful and in a way, a throwback to your childhood every time you were in this swing." She smiled as he had known her well enough to know what she was thinking and that was definitely something she had always thought of that place as. "Now it's kinda like my special place too, if that's okay."

"Austin, it's a public place, call it what you want." She told him, "but," She added, "it's also where you found me that one time I had gotten into a fight with my father. If you want me to be honest, I think that was when I realized just how special this place is to me."

"That night?" He asked her.

"It's one of my favourite nights you and I have shared together." She admitted, tears in her eyes. "You, know, among many others…"

"I wouldn't say tonight is one of those." Austin sighed and looked up again.

"But it could be." She said quietly and he looked at her. She felt the tears stream down her cheek and bit her lip. "I'm sorry I yelled at you and I'm sorry I made you walk away and didn't go after you." She stared straight ahead. "But you have to understand that I'm in a relationship now and so are you. We can't just say we love each other and go back to the way it was. It won't ever be like the way it was again. It would be different, so different and I-" She stopped speaking. "I'm just scared."

"Scared of what?" He asked her.

"I don't know," She admitted. "I just know that I'm scared."

"Can I tell you something?" Austin asked after a few seconds of silence. She looked up at him and nodded. He reached over to take her hand in his, "no matter what happens with us, we will always be best friends."

"And partners," She added, "always."

"Always." He whispered, and then he let her hand go.

* * *

><p>After he had spent time with Dez, he had decided to go to his and Ally's special spot. After their talk, he had walked her home and then walked back to his house.<p>

He opened the front door and a light turned on in the living room. There he saw Rydel was sitting on the couch, a glare on her face.

"Where have you been mister?" She asked him.

"I was with Ally" He responded.

"I called Dez, he said he hadn't seen you since you left his house two hours ago and-wait, did you just say you were with Ally?" She asked and he nodded. "Ally, as in the girl you had gotten into a fight with just a few hours ago?"

"Yeah, why is that so hard to believe?" He asked her as he walked into the kitchen.

"Because you had walked in here and said that it was the end of something after you walked away. What happened?" Rydel asked him.

"Honestly?"

She nodded.

"I thought it was the end of something, but then on the way home, I stopped by our special thinking place we would go to when we were upset and she just showed up. We talked things out, for the most part I guess and then that was it, we were okay again." Austin explained.

She looked at him closely. "But not totally okay?"

He shrugged, "I don't know. I told her how I felt and she…" He trailed off. "We'll see what happens I guess."

Ryel nodded and then opened her arms, she gave him a hug. "I'm sure it's all going to work out." She assured him.

And though he knew she was right, he couldn't help but feel a bit of anger at everything that had happened.

* * *

><p><em>"You know you have to tell her right?"<em>

_Austin nearly had a heart attack when he turned around, his hand on his chest, to see that Dez was behind him._

_"Tell who what?" He asked him._

_"Ally about her dad." Dez answered, walking passed him. Austin looked at him and followed him._

_"What that he lied to her about being sick?" Austin asked and Dez nodded as they went to sit at a table in the cafeteria._

_"Look, you don't want her to be mad at you right? For keeping it from her?"_

_Austin nodded, "I've known for almost two weeks now."_

_"Might not want to share that information with her then," Dez responded. "Dude, look, she's your girlfriend, you obviously love and care about her, but you can't keep this from her. It's too huge."_

_Austin nodded and then he soon felt a hand on his shoulder and an arm wrap around his neck._

_"Hey," He turned to see Ally was smiling at him. She kissed his cheek and then sat down beside him._

_"Hey…" He responded, glancing at Dez as Trish sat down beside him. "Um, how are you?" He smiled at her._

_"Awesome, amazing, thinking about our talk the other night," She said referring to them finally taking the next step in their relationship and having 'the' discussion about sex. Ally thought that since they were both only fifteen and in grade nine that it would be too soon, but Austin reminded her that they had been dating long enough (almost a year) and that it was okay. Her eyes lit up and she moved so that her bag was in front of her, between them on the bench that was attached to the table. Austin raised his eyebrow and looked at her curiously. "I have something for you."_

_She pulled out a thin book and then two thick ones and slammed them on the table in front of him._

_"What is that? More reading? Don't I have enough of that already?" Austin whined._

_"That, my friend is what you have to read up on," Trish told him, taking a bite of her pizza and trying not to laugh. Dez reached over and picked up one of the books._

_"How to Prepare Yourself For Your First Time," He read out loud and then he looked at Ally, blinking his eyes. "Really, Ally?"_

_She nodded, "I want us to be as prepared as we possibly can. I do not want to have a baby yet. Not for a reaallyyyy long time." She stretched out the word and looked up at her boyfriend. "So, will you read the books?"_

_"You don't have to?" He asked, picking one up and then looking at her._

_"I already did."_

_He sighed, of course she did. He then put the book down and took both her hands in his, leaning his forehead against hers, he softly kissed her. "It's a natural thing, babe. No book is going to tell you how to prepare yourself, other then the pain and protection, which we've both got well taken care of, we're good. We're totally good."_

_"Yeah, but if you paid attention in your Health class, you'd now that birth control isn't always affective and condoms break." Ally responded and then she heard the sound of choking and then turned in time to see Trish spit out her water all over Dez._

_"Trish!" He whined, "what the hell!" He wiped his eyes._

_Trish, not so surprisingly, ignored him, "I'm sorry did the words birth control and condom just come out of Ally's mouth?"_

_"Sex did too like a few minutes ago," Dez added and glared at her._

_"Yes, we're taking about sex, move on," Austin rolled his eyes and then looked at Ally. "Don't be scared or nervous okay? I promise you, it'll be special and as perfect as it can get. Okay?"_

_She still looked doubtful, but she nodded and gave him a smile, "okay." She whispered and then kissed him._

_"No more reading books," He jokingly murmured against her lips and then she giggled, her hand going to the back of his head, she pulled him closer and kissed him again._

_"I love you, Buttface," She said and he smiled back._

_"Love you too, Princess."_

* * *

><p>Austin felt like he was back in grade nine again, watching Ally as she laughed with her friends, while he still had such a huge thing he was keeping from her on his mind. The only difference was this time it was Piper who was laughing with her friends and he didn't exactly have the secret anymore, but he did have the worry of whether or not he and Piper were still a couple hanging over him and that alone was just enough to drive him absolutely crazy.<p>

"Go talk to her," Dez whispered and he turned to see him.

"Really? This again? You're like my conscious or something," Austin said as they went to go sit down at a table.

Dez shrugged, "you don't really have much to decide this time," He said referring to when Austin was torn between dating Ally again or Kira just a year before. "You can't just lead her on while you've got these strong feelings for Ally. It's not fair to her."

He nodded, "I know, it makes me look like a douchebag."

Dez agreed, "so, I'm telling you now, go talk to her." He said.

"I'm not ready." Austin admitted, looking down at his food and suddenly not feeling so hungry for it anymore.

"Not my problem." Dez responded and stood up, Austin stood up with him, confused. Dez spun him around and then pushed him forward. Since they had chosen a table that was right next to Piper's, he stumbled and fell down in front of it. He quickly got up and brushed off his shirt, glaring at his best friend. He just shrugged.

"You know, for a world famous rockstar, you sure are clumsy." Cassidy commented and Austin rolled his eyes, playfully pushing her away. He and Cassidy had been friends for years and the fact that she was friends with Piper was pretty cool, or at least he had thought that when they started dating.

"I wouldn't say I'm world famous, but thanks for the compliment." Austin smiled at her.

"So, do you like, flirt with every girl you talk to or…" A girl at the table asked and he ignored her, instead focusing on Piper.

"Can we talk?" He asked her.

"Now?" She asked.

"It's kind of important, so yeah, I'd say so." Austin responded.

Piper nodded, "okay." She said quietly and with that they walked to a more private end of the cafeteria.

"I don't want to cause a scene so, can we just talk about what happened and either move forward with our relationship or end it?" Austin asked.

"Wow, you're really making this so easy." Piper responded, her eyes rolling and her body language becoming more fenced off.

"Don't be like that," He told her, "It's not-"

"What? Fair?" Piper demanded, "you want to know what's not fair Austin? The fact that I walked in on your and your ex-girlfriend fighting and then you practically shouting from the damn rooftops that you were still in love with her!"

"You were the one that went behind my back and talked to my ex girlfriends if you remember!" He yelled back at her. "Don't give me that shit!"

"You lied to me!" She yelled back at him and then they realized they had gotten the attention of the entire cafeteria.

"I didn't lie to you!" He yelled back at her again.

"Yeah you did, you told me you didn't remember who your first was! That's lying! You weren't drunk!"

"You weren't there, so how the fuck would you know what I was or wasn't?" Austin demanded. "And yeah, I did do what I did and what I'm trying to do here is apologize to you."

"Well, apology not accepted." She responded, "you blew it."

"Good, so then it's over, right?" He asked. She didn't answer, instead her eyes filled with tears and though he wanted to feel bad, he was too angry. "Awesome, goodbye Piper," And with that, he started to walk passed her, but she just shouted something at him.

"Now nobody loves you! How does that feel Austin? To have no one love you because you're nothing but a douchebag who uses girls and then lies to them!" She was yelling so loud, he was pretty sure the entire school could hear it.

"Piper, that was really unnecessary," Cassidy said, coming up to the fighting couple.

"You don't know anything about my past life!" Austin yelled back at her, "you just think you do, but in reality, you know nothing about me!"

"That's because you don't ever say anything! Our whole relationship all you did was shut me out!"

"You wanna know why?" Austin demanded and that was when his friends started intervene.

"Okay, Austin, calm down, step away." Dez said as Ellington put his hand on his shoulder and tried to pull him away.

"It's okay, you're fine." He said as Rydel spun around to face Piper.

"Leave, now or you're going to regret it." She threatened her, "say any more rude comments to him and I swear I will make you miserable for the rest of this term."

"You never liked me anyway," Piper rolled her eyes, "you're just as much a bitch as he is."

Rydel pushed her, "shut up."

"Why can't he talk for himself?" Piper asked, "isn't that what he wanted? To have a talk?"

"Just leave him alone," Rydel said, her tone cold. "It's over."

"Whatever, it doesn't matter. Nobody wants him anymore, not even Ally does." Piper responded, she began to walk away when she paused and just gave him a cold hard look, "not even your parents loved you," She smirked and then spread her arms wide, gaining the attention of the entire cafeteria as she stepped back, "yeah that's right! Austin Moon's parents hate him! So much that they abandoned him when he was a child!" Rydel moved to attack her, but Ellingotn held her back. Piper just shook her head and with that, turned and walked away, storming passed Ally who had watched the whole thing from the sidelines with Trish. She took one look at Austin and Rydel and then took off after her. She went in front of her and stopped her from stepping further away. "What do you want?" She snapped.

"Don't treat Austin like that," She told her. "He doesn't deserve it. Any of it. You had no right to say what you just said."

"He shouted that he was still in love with you right in front of me," Piper stared her down.

"So, what you're going to treat him like shit over it? And use something so personal and painful against him? Like a thirteen year old? Grow up, Piper." Ally snapped back. "You don't know him and you don't know what he's like."

"And you do? Oh right, you dated him for like ever."

"Two and a half years actually," She responded.

"Why did you break up then? He confessed he was in love with someone else?"

She shook her head, "that's none of your business, but what is is that you stay away from him unless you have something nice to say. Trust me, you do not want to see what will happen if you act like a bitch to him."

"You're the bitch," Piper snapped, practically spitting in her face. "Move out of my way." She pushed against Ally, who felt tears well up in her eyes and then moved passed her. Ally didn't even stop her, just put her head in her hands and ran them over her face and into her hair. She looked up again to see Austin was standing in front of her and he was by himself.

"Where did everyone else go?"

"I told them to leave me alone for a few minutes," He responded.

"You know when you get like this, you can't be alone," She reminded him.

"Whatever, okay. I don't need a fucking babysitter." He responded. She just rolled her eyes.

"You okay?" She asked a moment later.

He shrugged, "I will be soon, I think," He mumbled.

She nodded, "okay, well um, I have to um…"

"Ally stop." He said stopping her from going forward. "We can't do this."

"You just broke up with your girlfriend and a huge fight broke out in front of the entire school because of something that you said to me. Oh and we talked about it last night, so can we just drop it? I'm still with Gavin. Okay? I'm not going to break up with him." She stared at him hard.

"Fine, don't listen to me then." He responded and with that, walked away.

"Stop doing that! Stop shutting me out and walking away!" Ally yelled at him.

"You wanted to end this conversation!" Austin yelled back at her. "And you know what? I'm not going to get into another fight, so bye, Ally."

Ally shook her head, tears streaming down her face. "I don't want to lose you!" She yelled after him and he stopped walking, "I feel like you're slipping away and I don't like it!"

"This only started like a day ago."

"You've been slipping away from me for a lot longer than that, whether or not you've realized it." She stepped closer to him. "You've been slipping away from a lot of people and that's kind of worrying considering what happened a year ago."

"Stop bringing up the past, I don't want to talk about it anymore. You said it was over, so it's over." He reminded her and then stared right at her. She could see his mental instability in his eyes. "It's all over."

"All over?" She asked and he nodded.

"All of it." And before either one of them could say anything more, he just turned and walked off, disappearing around a corner.

Ally's eyes filled with tears and she turned, kicking the locker and then fell against it, breaking down.

* * *

><p>Austin didn't really know where he was going, just that he wanted to be as far away from that school as he could possibly get.<p>

Piper had revealed a pretty big secret that not even Dez or Trish knew. Rydel knew because she was his sister and Ally knew because she had found out one night when he had gotten into a fight with his parents and had shown up upset at her house one night while they were still together. Piper found out… he actually had no idea how she found out. That part was still kind of a mystery to him.

"Austin! Austin!" He heard and turned around to see Rydel was running towards him. She grabbed his shoulder, spun him around and hugged him tight for a few seconds and then grabbed his wrist, pulling him with her to go sit down on bench. "You have to calm down okay?" She said, her hand going on top of his shaking one. "It's okay, I know you're upset, but you need to calm down." She pressed her forehead into the side of his head and held him against her, waiting until he stopped shaking. He hadn't even realized he even was shaking until she had pointed it out.

"I fucked up everything." He told her.

"You messed up, yeah, but I wouldn't say you fucked it all up." Rydel assured him, pulling away to look at him. She brushed a strand of his messy, overgrown shaggy blonde hair out of his eyes.

"Ally hates me, Piper hates me, the whole school knows our secret now and-" He just shook his head.

"Who cares what they think Austin? They're just a bunch of dumbass high school students who are either going to pass or fail. We'll never see the majority of them after we graduate anyways." Rydel told him, rubbing his back.

"I know but I really just care about…" He trailed off.

"I know, but she knows already, what Piper said isn't going to change her opinion of you."

He shrugged, "I still don't understand how Piper found out."

Rydel shrugged, "I don't get it either." She sighed, leaning her head on his shoulder, her hand found his and she squeezed it.

He squeezed her hand back and then he just stared straight ahead, his mind filled with millions of thoughts that were just bouncing around and around in his head.

* * *

><p><em>Ally was singing to herself, her homework in front of her when there was a loud knock on the window. She turned down her music and then looked out of the window to see that her boyfriend was sitting on the porch.<em>

_Confused, she opened the window, "it's pouring rain, Austin, what are you doing here this late at night?"_

_He didn't answer her, instead he closed the window and then turned to face her. She noticed his eyes were red and really couldn't tell if it was from the rain or if he had been crying._

_"Are you crying?" She asked._

_He bit his lip and nodded._

_"Why?" She asked, her hand going to his cheek as she wiped away a tear that had fallen. He just shook his head and fell against her, burying his head in her shoulder. His body was shaking and she immediately hugged him tight. She knew he wasn't going to say anything as he'd never been one to speak about his feelings so quickly so she just let him cry._

_After a few moments, he seemed to stop and then looked up at her. "Sorry."_

_"Sorry?" She asked and he nodded, "you have nothing to be sorry for okay? Don't ever apologize for being… real. Or for being yourself," She said and he smiled at her, softly kissing her before going to sit on her bed. She slowly sat down beside him and took his hand, lacing their fingers._

_"I um, I have to tell you something," He said and she nodded._

_Well, if he was being honest, he had two somethings to tell her, but he was only going to tell her one._

_"I um, I got a call from my mother," He said._

_She looked at him confused, "your mother? Don't you live with her and see her everyday?"_

_"She's not-" He stopped speaking, taking a deep breath, before continuing on. "She's my-she adopted me. And she adopted Rydel."_

_"You're-you're adopted?" Ally's eyes widened. He looked down and nodded. "But you look so much like your mother and father, I don't understand."_

_"It's complicated," He answered. "Really complicated and my mother she called and said she wanted to meet up with me, but I don't remember her. I don't remember anything about her and Rydel, she does. She said she's a horrible person and that I shouldn't trust her and I don't know what to do because she is my mother and-" His hands went over his face and he shook his head._

_"Austin, it's okay." Ally whispered. "It's okay to feel upset about this."_

_"I'm fucking fifteen years old and crying over my mother who apparently hated me." He said, his eyes tear-filled once he lifted his head to look at her. "Who does that at my age?"_

_"People who have been through what you have," Ally told him, gently squeezing his hand. "I don't know exactly what happened to you and whenever you're ready to tell me, I'll be right here to listen to it, but you have to understand that you're not immature or a baby for doing this okay? It's very human and very normal and I'm very okay and happy to see that coming from you since you tend to hide how you really feel a lot." He nodded. "I'm sorry you went through this and I'm sorry that your mother isn't who you want her to be but you can't let her get to you okay? You've got a happy life now, with a mother who adores you and a sister who adores you and a father who adores you and.. well, you have me." She leaned in closer, her forehead against his, "and I adore the hell out of you."_

_He grinned, "did you just curse?"_

_She rolled her eyes playfully, "yes, yes I did."_

_"It's hot." He said, his voice raspy as he looked at her, his hand reaching up to cup her cheek._

_"Oh really?" She asked him and then her lips brushed against his for about a second, before he just leaned in and kissed her a meaningfully and deeply. She kissed him back, her hand moving to the back of his head, tangling in his hair as she pulled him closer and kissed him deeper._

_They slowly broke off the intimate kiss and then just stared at each other._

_"Thanks for making me feel better, I knew I could count on you." He said._

_"Well that's what I'm here for." She whispered._

_"Me too." He squeezed her hand and then said it, the thing she never, ever got tired of hearing, "I love you, Ally."_

_"I love you too." She adorably tilted her head, "a lot."_

_He smiled at her and then she looked outside of her window. He did the same._

_"You are not going back out there in the storm," She told him, standing up, he watched their hands disconnect as she slowly walked over to her closet and pulled out a pair of sweatpants she had stolen from him and a t-shirt, she'd also stolen from him. She threw it at him, giggling when they landed slightly askew on top of his head. "Put those on."_

_"I don't have underwear though." He said, "it's soaked-not in the way you're thinking." He quickly added, scared he may have made her uncomfortable._

_She giggled at the look on his face and walked over to him, she leaned in and then smirked, "good, it'll be hotter that way then." She winked._

_"Something tells me you're not wearing any underwear either."_

_She giggled, "you won't find that out tonight, but… I promise you will find out soon." She softly kissed him, "go change. And then we can sleep and cuddle all night long."_

_"Promise?"_

_She wondered where that had come from, but nodded, biting her lower lip, "promise." She whispered._

_"Okay." He smiled and then got up, walking into the bathroom, just as she sat down on her bed, feeling the urge to cry but fighting it back. She had no idea how messed up Austin's life was. She had thought his family was perfect, apparently she had been wrong about it the entire time._

_Austin soon came back and lay down on her bed, pulling her down with him. She cuddled up against his chest and then after hearing his even breathing that he had fallen asleep, soon followed afterwards._

* * *

><p>He debated on whether or not he should call her.<p>

He said some things he really didn't mean and all he wanted to do was apologize to her.

_I'm sorry._ He sent and then waited a few seconds before sending another text. _I don't want this to be the end of us. I like us. Just the way we are._

He waited.

One second.

Two.

Three.

Then, _I like us the way we are too, but things are different now._

Austin sighed,_ I know._ He responded back. _I just don't want us to fight anymore okay?_

_We always fight._

She had a point.

_But I'm willing to be playful about it again if you are. _She added.

Austin smiled. Absolutely. _Lova ya Ally. See not as intense as before._

She sent him back a smiley face. _Love ya too weirdo._

Before he could respond, she sent another text, _just promise me, no matter how many fights we get into, no matter how much we hurt each other and no matter how much we just don't want to talk about it or certain things, we'll always be in each other's lives. I can't lose you, Austin. You're my best friend and you mean the world to me. If I lost you, it would be like losing my other half… don't tell Gavin I said that_.

He smiled, a sad smile, but still a smile nonetheless. Instead of texting it, he decided to call her.

"Hello?" Her usual perky happy voice wasn't there and he knew it had been his fault for causing it.

"I'm sorry Ally, for everything." He said and then before she could say anything, he continued, "I promise, I'm not going anywhere."

He heard a quiet sob or something and then sniffling. "Good, because I'm not letting you go that easily."

Austin fell back on his bed and stared up at the ceiling. "I'm also sorry, for you know, being so messed up."

"It's not your fault." Ally answered, "I know a lot about you and I know that you bottle things up inside all the way until they explode. It's not healthy, but it is what it is, I guess, right?"

"Yeah," Austin nodded, even though she couldn't see him.

It was silent.

Then, "one day, Austin, one day, things will go back to the way they were again." She said and he had no idea how to respond to that. So, she just continued on, the silence almost as if it hadn't existed. "See you tomorrow? We've got songs to write. Eight in the morning."

"That early?" He whined and she laughed. At least their old selves didn't leave them completely, they figured. "You are crazy. Make it noon."

"Make it eight. Be there or… well, you won't like what happens if you don't show up on time."

"What you're going to pour a bowl of chili on my head like last time?"

"Woke you up didn't it?" She teased.

"That's because, it was hot. Literally. And it got in my eyes."

She giggled, "then come on time and you won't have that problem again."

"Fine." He muttered and she giggled again, he smiled. "This is nice you know, feels like…"

"Us. The real us." Ally finished. He nodded and then yawned. "Sleepy?"

"So sleepy." He responded.

"Goodnight, I'll see you tomorrow." She said and he nodded, yawning again.

"Bright and early you pain my ass… I'm too tired to finish that."

She laughed, "good night Austin."

He smiled, "good night Ally." He said sleepily and with that he hung up his phone, falling asleep with a content smile on his face.

* * *

><p><em>And there it is. Hope you guys enjoyed it! I honestly wasn't sure about posting this, but Emily made me promise that no matter what I felt about it, I had to, so... here it is :) <em>

_Tell me what you think! Reviews rock. And you guys rock. We all rock._

_(Insert rock on forever sign here) _


	4. Chapter 4

_Don't kill me after you read this. _

_I dont own anything. Enjoy._

* * *

><p>Ally walked up the steps to Austin's house, pausing to take a deep breath and close her eyes right before she opened the door to his house with the key she had. After opening the front door, she softly closed it behind her and then walked up the steps, passed Rydel's room, which was quiet and it wasn't long before she was in front of Austin's room. She took another deep breath and then opened the door. She smiled to herself as she saw his long messy hair was covering his eyes and his headphones were in. She quietly walked up to the bed and then before she could scare him, his arms shot out and grabbed her, pulling her down, until he was above her.<p>

She opened her eyes, surprised to find that he had known what she was up to the whole time.

"How did you know?" She pouted.

He took out his headphones and then shrugged, as he put them on his bedside table.

"It's simple." He answered back.

"How simple?" She raised an eyebrow.

He smirked, "I know you Ally and I sometimes know what you're going to do before you do it. And I say sometimes, because there are times where you'll just surprise the hell out of me and do something completely different."

She thought about that and smiled, "wow, I didn't know I was that clever."

"Sometimes," He reminded her.

"Right, sometimes." She agreed and then looked up at him. "So, what do you want to do today?"

"You're the one that surprise visited me," He reminded her, "what do you want to do today?"

She narrowed her eyes, "good point, um… I don't know, write a song?"

He sighed dramatically, "but we always do that."

"You want a career or don't you?" She shot back and he nodded.

"Fine, you win."

And that was when they both realized the awkward position they were both in.

He was still on top of her.

She liked it.

He didn't want to move.

He liked it.

They were also staring at each other. She blinked her eyes and then realized they were slowly moving closer, both of their eyes closing.

His lips were just about to brush against hers, when the door opened and he quickly sprung apart from her. She opened her eyes and then saw Rydel was standing in the doorway, her arms crossed, eyebrow raised and a smirk on her face.

"Um, did I interrupt something?" She asked them.

"No, nothing." Austin responded, running his fingers through his hair as Ally nodded beside him.

"We were just talking about our plans for the um, day." Ally responded.

"Yeah," Austin agreed, "we're going to work…on a song…together. Like we always um, do."

"Right, okay." Rydel nodded, looking at them suspiciously. "Well, Austin, mom wants to talk to you. She's been calling you for the last five minutes."

He nodded, "okay, Ally. I'll be right back." He said and she nodded back at him. As he left the toom, the smirk on Rydel's face came back and she walked towards Ally, sitting down beside her on the bed.

"So…" Rydel trailed off.

"So…" Ally repeated, motioning for her to continue.

"I see you and Austin are still pretty close. Tight. Maybe a little too close."

Ally looked at her, "um, well, yeah. He's my best friend."

"Yes, but do you remember? He's a best friend who confessed that he was still in love with you, like, literally the other day." Rydel reminded her.

"Yeah, I know."

"And being that you, too, are his best friend, and you know, I'm just totally going off random facts I know, because you guys are kinda predicable and together it's like… the predictability is multiplied by like a million with you two, you're still in love with him too, am I right?" She asked her and it was silent for a few moments.

"I-" Ally began, but the door opened and Austin walked back in. He smiled over at her.

"Ready to go write a song?" He asked.

"What did mom want?" Rydel asked, acting as though she hadn't just been practically interrogating Ally.

"She just needed help with something… you know, those height issues she has," He shrugged and then motioned for Ally to go with him. "See you later Rydel!" He called as they left the room.

Ally walked beside him, down the stairs and then to his car.

"Wait, why are we going to your car? We don't have to go to Sonic Boom today, we can just write in your living room," She pointed out.

"I know that," He responded as he unlocked the car, "but do you have any ideas for a song right now?"

She realized where he was going with that and a grin spread across her face, "we're going to drive around and go on random adventures until we find inspiration, aren't we?"

He smiled, "you got it Princess, now get in the car." He said and she laughed, opening the door and getting inside.

"Let's go." She smiled at him and he smiled back at her. Then he started the car and drove off towards a random destination.

* * *

><p><em>Austin opened the front door and then ran up the stairs, excitedly yelling his girlfriend's name.<em>

_"Ally! Ally!" He shouted as he opened the door to her room. He saw her sleeping on the bed and then jumped on top of her. She rubbed her eyes and groaned, rolling over._

_"Austin? What are you doing here this early? You're not even a morning person!" She mumbled._

_"Yeah, right." He waved off her question, "I have the best news ever!"_

_"You decided became a morning person and then therefore decided that waking up your girlfriend as early as you just did was a good idea?" Ally asked as she yawned and sat up, rubbing her eyes again._

_"No." He gave her a look and shook his head. "My mom called, not my mom, mom, but my biological mom." He responded and then suddenly she was awake._

_"What?"_

_He nodded, "she wants to have lunch with me and Rydel today, but Rydel obviously isn't going, so… will you go with me?"_

_"Well, yeah of course, but why are you so excited? You were crying about it to me just the other day."_

_"I know, but I don't know… its just that I don't know her, I dont know who she is and… I just want to see it for myself, you know? See if she's really that person Rydel is making her out to be. You know, maybe she changed."_

_"I don't think so," Ally told him, "I know that may be hard for you to hear, but that's exactly it, you don't know her and she could be a bad person who will try to take advantage of you."_

_"I-" Austin opened his mouth to speak, but then shrugged. "I just wish Rydel would go too, you know? See for herself that she's probably changed and that she isn't a bad person anymore."_

_"But you don't know that," Ally pointed out._

_"Stop saying that!" He responded, his hands going to his hair as he turned around, his back towards her. Ally bit her lip and then her arms wrapped around his neck._

_"But you have to hear it," She told him, "I know you don't want to, but you have to."_

_He nodded and then she just bit her lip, laying her head on his shoulder._

_"I just want to see it for myself," He whispered and she nodded._

_"That's fair."_

_"Okay." He responded back and then just like that, everything seemed okay again._

* * *

><p>"Do you remember that one time we tried to write a song and it just… didn't work out?" Austin asked Ally as they lay on the hood of his car and just stared up at the sky together.<p>

"Yeah, that was one of the few times where we thought our partnership was going to be ruined for good," Ally nodded. "I was actually terrified that day. We couldn't think of anything and it worried me."

"It did?" He asked, looking at her. She nodded and then looked at him.

"I didn't want to lose you, I honestly felt that our songwriting was kind of like magic, it was what brought us together and if that got ruined or it went away forever then… I would lose you and it scared me."

"Ally, don't you know by now or even back then? I'm not going anywhere, you're stuck with me for good." He smiled at her and she smiled back, her hand going on top of his. She squeezed it.

"You know what's funny though?" She asked, staring up at the sky again.

"What?" He asked, still looking at her. She paused for a moment and then looked at him again.

"When you were sent away…" She trailed off, "I knew that I wasn't going to lose you because there was still a part of you still there. And when you came back, I knew it wouldn't change. Nothing would change and I was right."

"The funny part is when we couldn't write the song, you thought you were going to lose me?" He asked.

She nodded. "Magic."

He smiled at her, "magic."

Then it was silent again as Austin's radio played softly behind them.

"My mom contacted me," She said and Austin looked at her, "the mom who abandoned me as a child and didn't give a shit about where I was or what happened to me, contacted me."

"Did you respond?"

"No." She responded, "I don't want anything to do with her. Especially since she did what she did. I don't forgive her, I don't think I'll ever forgive her for that."

"I don't blame you, you know." Austin assured her, "what she did, it was pretty shitty."

Ally nodded.

"It's up to you to do what you want to do, but remember what happened with my mother?" He asked and she nodded again. "Don't let yourself get too attached and don't think about it as much." He advised.

"Yeah, but unlike you, I don't have an older sister to warn me about things like that."

"True, but you have me. I went through something very different, but similar in a way. If you want to see her, that's your decision, but if you want my advice, take somebody with you."

"Like you?" She asked and they shared a look in between them.

"If you want me to go, then absolutely I'll go with you."

"You'd do that for me?"

Austin nodded, "I'd do anything for you, Ally. You know that."

She smiled, "I know."

Austin sighed and then looked up again, "life's kinda messed up, isn't it?" He asked, and Ally didn't have to ask him what he meant to understand what he was thinking.

"Yeah," She agreed, "but at least we have each other, right?"

He looked at her, "always."

"And forever." She responded back.

And that was when they realized they were still holding hands and had laced their fingers.

"So, onto the next adventure?" Austin asked, taking his hand away from hers, so fast, it was like she had burned him or something.

She seemed caught off guard, but soon nodded her head.

"Yeah, let's do it." She responded and then smiled at him to assure him that it was all okay.

"Great, let's go." Austin responded, jumping off the hood of the car.

Ally sighed, "right, okay." She mumbled to herself and with that, joined him in the car, as he turned up the music and sped off down the highway.

* * *

><p>A few hours later, they really didn't have an idea for a song, but Ally had written down random lyrics that popped up in her mind, inside of her book.<p>

He dropped her off at home and then as she opened the front door and walked up the stairs, she took her phone from her pocket and then found her best friend's phone number.

"Hello?" Trish answered.

"Hey, can you meet me at Sonic Boom in twenty minutes?" She asked.

"I'm on my way." Trish responded.

Ally smiled, "thanks." And then she hung up.

She walked there since it wasn't far and used the time to think. She felt like her heart was going to burst it was so confused. Ever since Austin confessed that he was still in love with her, she had been more confused then ever. Their break-up had been hard and though she didn't want it with everything inside of her, she knew it had to happen. It had been the right thing to do at the time.

She soon arrived at the store and walked in, happy to find Trish was already there, along with Dez. Though she had been confused by his appearance, she realized she really didn't mind it and walked over to them.

"Hey, Ally." Dez smiled at her.

"Hey, Dez." She gave him a hug, "hey Trish," She gave her a hug and then motioned for them to follow her up the stairs to the practice room.

"So, what's up?" Trish asked, "why the 911 call?"

"It's not a huge deal, but-" She trailed off, "I um, spent the day with Austin."

"Oh?" Dez asked, as he sat down in one of the chairs. "Is that why I couldn't reach him all day?"

She nodded and then sat down on the piano bench, playing with her fingers.

She didn't have to say anything for the two of them to get what was on her mind. They were all that close.

"Don't deny it Ally," Trish said.

Ally blinked her eyes, "deny what?"

"You still love Austin, it's so obvious," Dez responded back.

"I-" Ally stopped speaking and instead turned towards the piano. She pressed down on one of the keyes. "I remember when Austin and I wrote our first ever song together. When we were both playing the piano and his hand touched mine, by accident or not, I'm still not totally sure and I just felt this spark, you know? It was like magic. No guy has ever made me feel like that before."

"So why won't you get back together again? What's stopping you?" Dez asked her.

Ally shrugged, "I don't have a reason, I guess."

"Except for Gavin," Trish pointed out.

Ally sighed and gave her a nod, "right." She shook her head, "Gavin," She repeated his name and looked down. "Is it bad that I feel this way? I mean, I don't know. I'm so confused." She looked up again and Trish gave her a smile, hugging her tight.

"You never forget your first love," She pointed out, squeezing her shoulder as she pulled away and smiled again. "It's okay."

"Is it?" She asked Dez who nodded.

"It's completely okay. Also, because you two are you know, meant for each other or something, I don't know."

Ally giggled. "Thank you, Dez."

He gave her a hug and she sighed, closing her eyes.

She didn't know what she was going to do, but what she did know was that she had to follow her heart.

And she knew exactly where it was headed and with whom it was headed towards.

* * *

><p>"I want to write an angry song," Austin said the next day in the practice room.<p>

She raised an eyebrow, "well, I want to write a happy song."

"Well, I'm angry and you're angry, it makes more sense."

She looked at him in disbelief, "what do you mean I'm angry? How would you even-"

"Because of your mother," He responded. "You're angry with her."

"Okay…" She realized he had a point, "then why are you angry? Actually, don't answer that, I think I know why."

He just sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, "we've been doing this now for two days and have gotten nowhere."

"It's just taking longer than normal," She said. "It'll be okay."

"Do you think we lost the magic we had in the last few days?" He asked, genuinely worried they had. "I don't want what I said to affect our songwriting."

She knew it wasn't him. It was mostly her. She couldn't decided what she wanted to do and though she knew what she wanted, she was just scared to make it happen and its as causing a block in her mind. Especially with the song writing.

She and Austin had always made the perfect partners, friends and couple. They were good together. Everything was better when they were together, supporting each other by the other's side. It was definitely, as Dez had pointed out to her the day before, meant to be.

"Hey, do you know where Dez was yesterday? I couldn't reach him." Austin said and she blinked her eyes, confused over why he asked that.

"He was with me. He said he couldn't reach you and just went to the mall. He ran into Trish who was coming to meet me. So, yeah." She shrugged and then looked down at the keyes. She pressed down on them, trying to come up with a melody, but came up empty-handed.

"This isn't going to happen," Austin sighed, "I'm going to go home, I'm really tired."

She nodded, "okay, we'll try again tomorrow."

He nodded agreeing and gave her a hug, getting up to leave, when he thought of something and turned around, "have you responded to your mother yet?"

She shook her head. "No, I haven't thought much about that, honestly."

He nodded, "okay. Well, just let me know when you do, I'm here for you."

She smiled, "thanks, Austin."

"Anytime." He responded and with that left her alone.

She just sighed and let out a groan, closing her eyes.

She had no idea what she was going to do now.

There was a knock on her door and she opened her eyes to see her boyfriend was right in front of her.

He was smiling big.

She was not smiling back, but it didn't seem to bother him.

"I have great news, babe." He told her, walking in and kissing her. She quickly pulled away. But again, he didn't seem to notice it.

"What is it?" She asked him as she moved away from him.

He hadn't noticed that either. She realized just how into himself he was.

"I got an offer to perform for three months around the country." He said, "singing my music and you know, making money."

"And your fans happy," She pointed out, getting up and going behind her to the refrigerator to grab a drink.

"Right, of course, them too." Gavin agreed. "So, I just want to ask you something."

"Okay." Ally said, "what is it?"

"Will you go on tour with me?"

She dropped her drink, her mouth dropping open. " What?"

"I want you to go on tour with me." Gavin said, "I don't want to leave you behind, you're my girlfriend."

"I know, but, Gavin, it's a few months and I can't do that. I have a life here, I have to write music for Austin, he's my partner."

"I understand that, but maybe you can write music on the road? Over Skype or something?"

Ally put her hands in her hair and started to pace back and forth, "this is huge. It's like a huge step, I don't know, I have to think about this."

"It'll be great, for me. For you. Both of us."

She didn't know what to think.

"Just give me time, okay?" She asked and that was when she felt her heart hurting. The last time she had been on tour was with Austin.

Trish and Dez were there too, but it was Austin that was performing the songs on stage.

He nodded, "okay." He said quietly and then leaned in to kiss her. She didn't kiss him back and just walked out of the practice room and out of the store.

She really needed time to think about her decision.

But she knew it wasn't going to be that difficult.

Though her heart was telling her one thing, her mind was telling her another.

* * *

><p><em>"Do you know what she looks like?" Ally asked Austin.<em>

_He shrugged, "not really. Probably would have been good to know, wouldn't it?"_

_Ally sighed. She knew he was nervous so she let it slide._

_"She's there." They both heard and turned around to see that Rydel was behind them, pointing a finger towards the other end of the restaurant. Ellington was beside her._

_"You came," Austin said, his heart filling up with warmth towards his sister._

_She nodded, "I wasn't going to let you both do this alone." She looked at her boyfriend, "Ellington's here to support me too."_

_"Okay, good." He sighed, "so, let's do this then."_

_Rydel nodded and Ally let go of his hand just as Rydel took it in hers. She squeezed it and together they walked all the way up to the table._

_"Hi." Rydel said, her tone unfriendly._

_The woman looked up and that was when Austin realized just how much Rydel looked like her._

_"Austin! Rydel! It's so good to see you!" She tried to hug them but Rydel put her hand up and stopped her._

_"We're here only because he's curious, I still hate you." She told her._

_"I deserve that, I know." She looked behind them, "and who are you two?"_

_"Ellington, he's my boyfriend. Ally, she's Austin's girlfriend." Rydel introduced them._

_"Nice to meet you."_

_"Yeah," Ally agreed._

_"You too." Ellington responded._

_"Um, I know this might… be strange, but I just realized, I don't know your name." Austin told her._

_"It's Karen." She told him._

_"Okay."_

_They all sat down and then Karen asked her next question._

_"So how are you both? What's new?"_

_"What's new?" Rydel scoffed, "you've been gone our entire lives, I really don't think that's an appropriate question to ask."_

_"Rydel, shh." Austin said._

_"Um, well, Austin and I have been writing songs together," Ally told her. "You know, he wants to be a singer, I want to be a songwriter."_

_"Oh very cool, what about you Rydel?"_

_"I play keyboards and I dance. I love dance." She curtly responded._

_"And you? Ellington, is it?"_

_"Yeah, I'm just into playing the drums. Not much into sports."_

_Karen nodded and then waitress came to take their order._

_"Why did you leave?" Austin asked after a few moments of tense silence after the waitress left. "Why did you leave us?" He asked again. Ally noticed the emotion in his eyes and it broke her heart to see him like that. She placed her hand, comfortingly on his back and began to rub it._

_"I-" Karen began._

_"Because she's selfish." Rydel answered him. "All she cares about is herself."_

_"No, that's not it." Karen tried._

_"Oh it's not?" Rydel demanded, "you mean, because you weren't a drunk idiot, that's not the reason why we were placed in the foster care system? Because you thought your drugs weren't more important than us? No wait, you did. You chose drugs and alcohol over your two children!" She looked angry, angrier then Austin had ever seen her before._

_"I know okay? And I'm not proud of my past, you know that."_

_"You're just lucky Austin doesn't have many memories of it."_

_"I'm sorry, okay? What else do you want me to say?"_

_"It's been too long. You don't have the right to be sorry." Rydel snapped at her. "Take your sorries and shove it in a sack up your ass!" And with that, she abruptly stood up from the table and stormed away. Ellington followed after her, while Austin just looked at his mother, hoping she would say something to make it better._

_"You don't have to listen to her," Karen told him. "She's just angry."_

_"She has a right to be," Austin reminded her. "Why did you contact me? You left us for a reason, so why did you want to speak with us so badly?"_

_"I-" She trailed off. "I saw the video of you online. I hadn't realized how far you've come since, well you know and I just wanted to see you. See what your life was like with your new family."_

_"It's great. Perfect. Awesome. My parents rock." He responded._

_Ally looked down and noticed his hand was shaking. She put in hers._

_"They treat you well?" She asked and suddenly Ally got an uneasy feeling about her and where she was going with her questions._

_He nodded, "yeah. Better than you have apparently."_

_"Well, that's great." Karen smiled at him, "but um, I need to ask you for a favour."_

_And there it was._

_"What is it?"_

_"I need money." She told him. "And I know you're kind of famous after your online video and-"_

_"No." Austin responded, shaking his head. He remembered Rydel warning him that she'd say something like that, especially since he practically became an overnight sensation._

_"I promise, I'll pay you back-"_

_"No." Austin responded and he stood up. "I'm not giving you money, I barely know you. I barely even remember you!" He motioned for Ally to go with him. "Come on, let's go."_

_"No, Austin, wait!"_

_The desperation in her voice made Ally want to cry, but she bit her lip hard. Austin however, just looked more upset._

_"Go to hell." He responded. "I'm not helping you. Rydel was right about you." And with that, he stormed off. Ally ran after him and soon caught up with him by the bathroom. She grabbed his wrist and spun him around, giving him a tight hug._

_"Let's go home," She whispered and he nodded. They broke apart the hug and walked outside where they found Rydel was sitting on the bench with Ellington. As soon as they walked out, she looked up and stood up to go over to him._

_"You were right," He told her tearfully. "She was exactly who you said she was."_

_"I'm so sorry, Austin." Her voice broke and he just hugged her, crying against her shoulder._

_"She asked me for money."_

_"I"m so sorry," Rydel whispered, rubbing his back as she hugged him._

_He nodded and then he broke the hug. Ally walked over to the bench and sat down. He sat down beside her._

_"I'll see you at home okay?" Rydel said, "I just… I need to process this too."_

_"I understand," He told her and with that she hugged him and after he received a hug from Ellington and they both hugged Ally, they were gone._

_"Let's get out of here, she might come out here and find you and demand money from you," Ally said and he nodded agreeing with her._

_"Wait, Ally?" He said and she turned around._

_He cupped her face in his hands and then pressed his lips against hers._

_"Thanks for being here with me."_

_She nodded, kissing him again. Then she took her hand in his, "always." She whispered, "and that's a promise I'm going to keep forever."_

* * *

><p>She didn't have a destination in mind.<p>

She just kept walking.

And walking.

Until she reached her best friend's house.

She knocked on the door and soon enough, the door opened to reveal her best friend since kindergarten.

Without even waiting for her to ask her why she was there, she just motioned for her to come outside and sit with her on the stoop.

"Ally, what's wrong?" Trish asked as Ally turned towards her, tears in her eyes. She rubbed her back.

"Gavin got an offer to go on tour and asked me to go with him." Ally told her.

"Why are you crying? Isn't that great news?" Trish asked her.

Ally shook her head.

And then, Trish understood what was wrong.

"What about Austin?"

Ally shook her head, "I don't know. I told Gavin I would think about it, but honestly… I think that it would be good for us, Austin and I, I mean. We need time apart and… I think going on tour with my boyfriend makes a lot of sense."

"What about what you told Dez and I the other day?" Trish asked her.

She shrugged, "I can't open my heart to him again, I'm not ready to. After what happened with our break up and everything… I just can't."

"I understand." Trish nodded, laying her head on Ally's shoulder.

"How am I going to tell him I'm going on tour with my boyfriend? He's going to be so upset."

Trish shrugged, "he's going to have to understand and he will. He'll just need time to process it. Obviously, you've moved on. It's understandable."

Ally blinked, "yeah, right. I moved on."

Trish looked like she was going to say something, but closed her mouth, instead opening it to say something else.

"Decide what you want to do. But don't do anything because you're afraid of what Austin will think, okay?"

Ally nodded, "thanks Trish. I knew I could count on you to help me."

Trish smiled, "well that's what I'm here for."

* * *

><p><em>"Hey, Ally, when does Austin get here?" Lester asked his daughter as she sat at the kitchen table and grabbed a pancake to put on her plate.<em>

_"Well, he said he was on his way about twenty minutes ago, so… I'm pretty sure as soon as he walks in and smells pancakes, he'll be here in less than a second." Ally answered, she looked at her father, "totally not an exaggeration by the way."_

_Soon enough, Austin walked in and she saw his eyes lit up as soon as they landed on the pancakes in front of her._

_"No way! Dude! Pancakes!" He exclaimed excitedly and immediately went to sit down beside his girlfriend. He took one of the pancakes from her and chewed on it, happily._

_"That was mine!" Ally whined._

_"Sorry, babe, but never mess around with me and pancakes, you'll get it jacked from you."_

_"At least he's warning you early," Lester pointed out and Ally nodded in a silent agreement, still glaring at her boyfriend as she reached for another one. "So, Austin, how are you doing today?" Lester asked, as he put his newspaper down and focused on his only child and her boyfriend, taking a sip of coffee as he did._

_"Fine." Austin muttered as he took another bite. "How are you, Mr. Dawson?"_

_Lester smiled at him, "how many times have I told you to call me Lester?"_

_"Many." Austin admitted._

_Lester smiled again, "okay well, I'm glad I have you both here, because I want to talk to you about something serious."_

_Austin's heart pounded in his chest as he realized that Lester was going to finally tell Ally about his illness. He looked at Ally, nervously._

_"I want to talk to you guys about sex."_

_That hadn't been what he was expecting, at all._

_"Oh no." Ally groaned._

_"Here we go," Austin muttered._

_"I just think that you two are going to probably want to you know, have sex soon and I understand, it's very normal and very natural and I just want to make sure you guys are doing the right things, like protection and-"_

_"Dad, I'm going to throw up, Everywhere." Ally told him._

_"I know it's embarrassing and rough, but we have to talk about this."_

_"Dad, we're not even, oh my god." Ally covered her face with her hands, turning redder and redder as Austin just sat beside her amused. She narrowed her eyes at him._

_Austin looked down at his food, suddenly not hungry anymore._

_"I just have two things to say and then it's over," Lester said and Ally slowly nodded, motioning with her hand to quickly get it over with. "Okay, both of you, use protection. I can't say that enough and, Ally, we're going to have to get you some birth control." She just nodded her head and soon felt a hand on hers, looking to see Austin had laced their fingers and squeezed her hand. She smiled at that. "Austin, condoms." Austin nodded. "And both of you, please don't do it when I'm home."_

_"Like we would ever do that," Ally responded._

_"Uh, yeah, I don't want to die." Austin added._

_Lester smiled, "Well I'm glad to see we're on the same page then, discussion over."_

_"Promise?" Austin asked, surprising Ally since he had been so respectful up until then._

_Lester nodded, "I promise." He then looked at his daughter and her boyfriend again. "I'm just happy to see you two have found each other, you're perfect together."_

_"Thanks, daddy." Ally said and then Austin smiled at her. She smiled back at him and then they continued to eat their breakfast together, talking about other things until they were finished._

_After cleaning up, Austin sat down on the couch, exhausted as Ally sat down beside him._

_"Well, that was kinda awkward… in the beginning." Austin said and Ally nodded._

_"We got through it, didn't we?" She asked._

_He grinned, "hell yeah we did. Your dad can't resist my amazing charm." Ally giggled and then softly kissed him. She slowly broke it off and looked at him._

_"Are you okay? With everything that happened the other day… I just want to make sure."_

_"Yes, Ally. I'm fine." He assured her._

_"Okay." She responded and then slowly kissed him again, her leg going over his body, she sat on top of him and leaned down to kiss him deeper, his hands going to her waist._

_He started to kiss her faster and more meaningfully squeezing her sides, she let out a soft moan._

_He then stopped the heated make out session and looked at her._

_"I love you, Ally." He said._

_She felt so much warmth for him in that moment. "I love you too, Austin."_

_And then she lay her head on his chest and closed her eyes, catching her breath as he wrapped his arms tightly around her._

_She had never felt more protected in her entire life._

* * *

><p>He thought about when he and Ally had the awkward sex talk with her father and laughed to himself. It had been an awkward moment for sure, but looking back on it, it was pretty funny. Though they had talked about having sex, her father bringing it up like that kinda helped them move forward with it, since he had been so supportive. And that still blew Austin's mind as it had been so strange.<p>

"What's so funny?" Dez asked him. He looked over at his best friend who had just beat him in another game.

"Just thinking about the past." Austin told him.

Dez looked at him. "Yeah? What about?"

He shrugged, "the past." He sighed and then got up.

"Uh, Austin, why are you pacing back and forth?" Dez asked him a moment later as he moved around so that he could see the television screen.

"I don't know," He admitted. He sat down beside Dez. "I guess I'm just anxious."

"Why?" Dez asked him.

"Again, I'm not sure." Austin admitted once more. "It's confusing." He sighed, running his fingers through his hair, "it's complicated."

"What is? Telling the girl you love that you love her because that seemed super easy for you." Dez responded back.

"I know, I just… I can't let her go, you know? I tried to replace her and failed. Clearly, three damn times." Austin hit the covers on his bed. "And now she's in a relationship with a guy who makes her happy. I just… I wish I could be that guy again, you know? We had a good relationship, it was-"

"Literally what everyone else wanted. You and Ally were the perfect power couple. Seriously. Everyone wanted to be you." Dez told him.

Austin shrugged, "I guess not anymore." He covered his face with hands and fell back on his bed. "And now we can't even write a song together. We're that messed up."

"Well, it's not the first time," Dez pointed out. "But you both always bounce back."

"I don't think so. Not this time."

"Your usual plan of doing random things and driving around for inspiration didn't work?" Dez asked and Austin shook his head.

"Failure."

Dez sighed, "look, you just have to… I don't know, be honest, right? Talk about your feelings, get her to talk, because I am about a hundred percent certain, you're not the only one that feels the way you do."

"Are you saying Ally might be in love with me?" Austin asked him, "because she made it pretty clear she wasn't. She loves Gavin."

"Go talk to her bro." Dez patted his shoulder.

"He's right."

Austin and Dez looked up to see Rydel was in the doorway to his room. "Go get your girl, Austin."

"You guys say it like it's so easy! She's got a boyfriend. I can't just… go up to her and say, 'hey Ally, let's get back together,' it doesn't work like that."

"Then why is she downstairs waiting for you?" Rydel asked him.

"What? She's here?" Austin asked and Rydel nodded. He quickly moved passed her and went down the stairs. He stopped at the bottom, "Ally?"

She turned around and he saw the tears in her eyes.

"Ally? What's wrong?"

"I have to tell you something and I don't know how you're going to take it." She told him and he suddenly felt scared. She looked down.

"Just say it already."

"I-" She closed her mouth, looking away for a moment and then she looked at him again, "I'm going on tour with Gavin."

"You're what?"

"I'm going tour with-"

"I heard you." His tone was unfriendly. "What the hell, Ally?"

"I'm sorry it's just that he's my boyfriend and he's going to be gone for a few months and he asked me to go with him. I'm his girlfriend, I should go, with him." She tried to reason with him.

"Well, what about us? What about my music? What about yours?"

"We can Skype."

"Fuck that." Austin shook his head. "You're going to throw away our partnership to go tour with a country singing loser who by the way is just going to take advantage of you."

"Austin, he's my boyfriend, don't talk about him like that!"

He stared at her, hard. That was when she saw an emotion flash in his eyes that she hadn't seen in very long time. It scared her.

He looked down, "I thought touring and music was our thing, it was our magic."

"It still is, Austin, that's not going anywhere." She assured him.

"Then why are you going on tour with Gavin?" He demanded.

"You have no right to be upset about this! I told you, he's my boyfriend and I love him and I want to be with him!" Ally yelled.

"I told you how I felt, Ally, now it's your turn." Austin responded back. "But I'm not going to wait around forever."

"Why, because the last three relationships you had worked out so well?" She asked him. "Just deal with it, Austin. We're sixteen! This isn't some kind of cheesy romantic comedy or a fairytale romance."

"Fine." He responded back.

"Fine? What does fine mean?" Ally asked.

"It means I'm letting you go. For good. Do what you want that makes you happy. You're free now."

"No, Austin, don't-" Ally's eyes filled with tears and one slipped down her cheek as she realized what he meant. He was giving up everything so that she could be happy, including his own happiness.

"Goodbye, Ally. Have fun on tour with Gavin." And with that, he turned and walked up the stairs, passing by Dez and Rydel and going into his room. They all heard the door slam shut and then Ally just looked at her two friends.

"Watch him, okay?" She asked, her tone shaky. "Because I think he's slipping back into his old ways again. I saw it in his eyes." And with that, she turned and walked out of the house, the door closing softly behind her as she realized what exactly she just closed the door on.

And it made her break down all over again while meanwhile, just about thirty feet above her, Austin's heart was breaking into small, tiny pieces as he realized that he had truly lost her for good.

* * *

><p><em>I know, I know, so much drama. But that's the point.<em>

_What do you think's going to happen? __Do you think Ally's going to go through with going on the tour? __Do you think Austin really believes he lost her for good? __And what are these old ways Austin is beginning to slip back into again?_

_Hmm.. just read and see! Hehe. It'll all be explained in the next few chapters. Promise._

_And I know I posted on twitter something like this, where Austin says, "it's just that I really like you and-wait, how did you make those words come out of my mouth?" And Ally responds with, "because I'm a girl." and also when Austin has, "I just want someone to believe in me, Ally. Just one person, that's it. After everything I've been through, I think that's fair." __I was going to put them in the chapter and I did, but I completely changed my idea so, these quotes will be coming up in the upcoming chapters. So you have that look to look forward to :) _

_Okay, well, much love! _

_Reviews would be rad. _


	5. Chapter 5

_Yeah, you're all going to hate me again. _

_But I think you'll like Piper in this one. Maybe._

_I know it's short. But I feel like with the last one, you guys deserved this one._

_So, with that in mind, the next one should be up shortly as well. Hopefully. It depends on school and dance. I've got midterms coming up in the next week or so, so I'll really try my best. Promise._

_I don't own anything. Enjoy. _

* * *

><p>Austin sat in his bed, angry, upset and wondering why the hell he didn't go after her.<p>

Dez apparently wondered the same thing because he was back in his room, soon enough.

"What the fuck are you still doing sitting here?" He asked him.

"I'm mad at her." He responded back.

"Okay, let's not be the five year old you were when I met you and instead be the seventeen year old you are now." Dez suggested.

"I second that," Rydel added, walking into the room.

Austin rolled his eyes. "You guys wouldn't get it. You're significant others are still with you, alive and in the same fucking city and let's not forget, they're still with you."

"That's your fault," Dez responded.

"Whatever, dude." Austin crossed his arms over his chest, "all I know is the girl I'm-"

"Crazy stupid in love with," Rydel cut him off.

"Yeah, what she said, the girl I'm crazy stupid in love with, is going on tour with another guy. So… that's it then." Austin shrugged. "She made her choice."

"So what now? You're going to try to replace her and fail again?" Dez asked.

"There's nothing I can do about it, Dez. I already told her how I felt. She obviously doesn't feel the same way." Austin looked down.

"You're an idiot if you think she doesn't feel the same way for you," Rydel said and Austin looked at her, "sorry, but it's true. She loves you, she's in love with you. Anyone can see that. Even if her douchebag boyfriend can't, at least the rest of the world can."

"How about we stop talking about this?" Austin suggested.

"Great idea." Rydel smiled, "go downstairs and get your girl."

"It's not happening." Austin responded.

"She didn't leave yet." Dez responded, as he stood by the window.

"What makes you say that?" Austin asked.

"She's crying out on the front stoop. I can see her." Dez responded.

"So, what are you going to do? Sit here and feel like an idiot for not trying harder or are you actually going to go down there and talk to her?" Rydel asked him.

"She doesn't want to talk to me."

"Stop being stubborn!" Rydel exclaimed, her hands going to her hair. "You both need to just stop and deal with this! Get her to tell her how she feels, Austin. I don't care how you do it, just do it. You need to hear it for yourself and if she leaves before you get the chance, you're going to feel so much shittier than you do right now. I promise you that."

"Damn, she's harsh." Dez commented.

"Tell me about it," Austin muttered. But he knew Rydel was right. "Is she still out there?"

"Yup." Dez responded and without another word, Austin jumped up and ran down the stairs. He opened the front door, stopping short once he saw her sitting on the front steps. She had the phone to ear, so he just stayed behind her, quietly waiting for her to finish up.

"I'm scared, Gavin. Really terrified actually."

He really wish he could hear what Gavin was saying.

"I know, but you have to understand where I'm coming from. Yeah, I know, okay. Yeah." She turned around and saw him. He just waved back at her. "I have to go, I'll talk to you later. And I mean, like we need to meet in person to talk. Okay, yeah. Bye." She hung up and then faced forward again. Austin walked over to her and then sat down beside her.

"Why are we so messed up?" He asked after a few moments of tense silence.

"Because we're Austin and Ally. That's just how it is, I guess."

Austin turned to look at her, "can you honestly say that you don't miss me?" He was looking right at her and could see she was beginning to crumble a bit. "And I mean, be as honest as you can about that."

"I-" Ally began and then looked away. "I do miss you, yes. But I can't be with you."

"Okay." Austin responded and then without warning he hugged her. "Have fun on your tour then. See you when you get back."

Ally nodded. "Yeah. See you when I get back."

And then Austin got up and walked back into the house, while Ally just sat there for a few more minutes and then got up to walk home.

* * *

><p>Five days into the tour and she pretty much hated it already.<p>

Everything had been so last minute that she didn't have time to think about what exactly she was giving up by doing this.

Gavin did his shows, then would go party afterwards with some fans. He pretty much ignored her and she was beginning to wonder why he had invited her to come along in the first place.

Though, being alone on the tour bus a lot did give her a lot of time to think and to cry (flashbacks of Austin's tour were hitting her and she just wanted to be back with him again, more than anything else).

At least when Austin got the offers to go to after parties, he always asked Trish, Dez and Ally what they wanted to do. It was always a collective decision and most often, Trish and Dez would go off to the parties alone while Austin and Ally stayed behind on the bus and did… other things.

She was lonely without her friends.

She was lonely without Austin.

She missed him.

Sighing to herself, she stopped writing in her journal and instead got up to go brush her teeth, when she heard the door to the tour bus open and turned around to see Gavin was right behind her. And surprisingly, he wasn't alone. Piper was with him as well and they were both laughing about something.

"Piper? What are you doing here?" She asked.

Piper smiled at Gavin, "I came by to see Gavin's show. Pretty rad if you ask me."

"Well, okay. Glad you could come, I guess…" Ally blinked her eyes as she realized Gavin had a dazed off look in his eyes. "What's with you?"

"I'm drunk." He told her.

"Okay, well, go be drunk out of here, I don't need you puking all over the bus." Ally responded and with that walked into the bathroom to brush her teeth.

"Aw is Ally sad because Austin's not here to keep her company?" Piper taunted and then she put her finger to her chin. "Oh wait, you decided not to bring him because you couldn't handle his sorry ass anymore, right?"

Ally turned around, "no, where did you get that idea?"

Piper nodded towards Gavin, "he told me."

"He's lying."

"Then why are you here?" Piper asked her.

"Because Gavin, _my boyfriend_, asked me to join him on this tour." Ally responded. "I wanted to be with him."

"That's a lie, you just wanted to distance yourself from Austin," Piper responded.

"You don't know me." Ally argued, "you don't know anything about me, why are you making up false reasons for why I'm not back in Miami with Austin?"

"We broke up, because he admitted he was still in love with you. You leave him to come on tour with a boy you probably don't even have real feelings for anymore. Or maybe you never did."

"The fact that you're here in a city far away from Miami also tells me something," Ally ignored her. "You're a home wrecking bitch."

"At least I'm not the one that came in between all of Austin's relationships," Piper shot back. "I'm not the home wrecking bitch, you are."

"Go to hell, Piper." Ally snapped back something so out of character for her. "You think you know everything, but you don't. Austin and I's relationship ended for a reason far more than what your brain could ever handle. A reason that I don't have to say anything to you about. But you come here and you interfering with my relationship is pretty low, even for you."

Piper raised her eyebrows, "you sure about that?"

Ally just shook her head and turned around, just as she heard a gagging noise and watched as Gavin jumped up and ran off the bus.

"Great boyfriend you have there. He keeps you happy, doesn't he?" Piper asked her.

"Why are you trying to break me down?" Ally demanded, "I don't want to talk to you, I don't want to talk to him and I don't want to talk to anybody."

"I'm not trying to do anything," Piper responded. "I'm just trying to get you to see that you are the reason why Austin's never happy in any of his relationships. He keeps trying to replace you and it fails. Just like you keep trying to replace him."

"I'm still with my boyfriend." Ally responded.

"Yes, but pretty soon, you won't be anymore and when that happens, just ask yourself why. Why did I do this? Why am I the reason Austin's so unhappy?" She stepped closer to her and got into Ally's face, "and why you do finally realize it, just remember this conversation."

"What, the Piper being a bitch one? I'm sure I'll forget it." Ally gave her a look.

"Okay, I didn't want to have to do this, but you gave me no choice," Piper sighed dramatically, "you're boyfriend, he's not who you think he is."

"Meaning…?"

"Meaning that what you have with him, isn't real. What you think you have with him, isn't real. He's touring, he's… a country singer of all things and he's hooking up with girls any chance he gets. Why do you think he's drunk right now or why he goes to those parties?"

Ally thought about it and then realized she had a point. But then remembered something, "Austin wasn't like that."

"Everybody's different." Piper responded. "Austin loves you, he's in love with you, anyone can see that. I saw it even when I started dating him. You two had something special, blah blah blah. But you keep trying to replace that with Gavin. Why? Because you're scared."

"Wow, you've got me all figured out don't you?" Ally asked, going to sit down on the couch.

"Sort of. I'm a girl. I kinda know how you and other girls think at times." Piper responded.

Ally opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it. "You know, I told Gavin I was scared? Right before coming on this tour. I was scared because I felt like he and I were moving too fast." She humorlessly laughed. "The funny part about that is I moved even faster with Austin in our relationship than the one I have with Gavin."

"Okay, as much as I'd love details, spare me them. I'm still fragile from the break-up." Piper responded.

"Really?"

"No, I want to hear everything." Piper grabbed her arm and bounced excitedly.

Ally rolled her eyes, "well, it's personal. And something that I'm going to keep in between Austin and I."

"Well, you're no fun." Piper pouted and that caused Ally to laugh. "So, what are you really afraid of now?" Piper asked after a few minutes of studying Ally in silence.

"Breaking up with Gavin and then going back to Austin," She admitted. "Our relationship was amazing and great and everything I've ever wanted and dreamed of, but it was also sad. Austin had things going on and… I just… I don't want what happened with him to happen again."

"Like what?" Piper asked and Ally was surprised to find her tone was gentle.

"He left. For a month and that was the hardest month of my life. But he needed it. More than anything." She vaguely responded.

"I don't think he's going to leave again," Piper said, "whatever that reason was."

"It's more mental health then um, what you might be thinking of." Ally told her.

Piper nodded and then realized what a bitch she really was. At least to Ally it seemed like she did. She looked up at her, "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?"

She nodded, "I'm sorry for personally attacking Austin the way I did after our break-up, I mean, I knew his parents were kind of a touchy subject, but I was just angry at the time and I took it out on him and it shouldn't have come out like that." She looked up, "I just hope that he can forgive me someday."

"Well, I know he will." Ally said and she looked at her. "I can see it in your eyes, you really do feel guilty about it. He'll come around eventually."

"You think so?"

Ally nodded, "I know so." Ally paused for a moment, "but I have to ask you something."

"Ask away." Piper responded.

"Why are you helping me? I thought you were jealous of me, I mean you made that pretty clear."

"Well, yeah, that's true." Piper agreed, "but I don't know. I caused enough pain, I figured I'd help you out."

"By telling me my boyfriend is cheating on me and then telling me to go back to your ex?"

Piper shrugged, "hey, if it makes you happy then why not?"

Ally smiled, "thanks, I need to hear that from you."

Piper smiled back and then hugged her. "So, just one other question."

"Yeah?"

"When are you getting the hell out of here and going back to Miami?"

* * *

><p><em>Austin knew when he heard yelling in Ally's house that something was very wrong.<em>

_He opened the door and stepped inside, only to see that Lester and Ally were in a stand-off with a very recognizable woman. He just couldn't place where he knew her from._

_"I am not moving to New York with you!" Ally yelled at her. "I don't even like you!"_

_"Ally!" Austin called and she saw him. He saw the look in her eyes and knew that whatever was going on, wasn't good. She quickly ran over to him and he hugged her tight. "What's going on?" He asked her as she looked up at him, tears in her eyes._

_"I'm sorry, but who's this?" The woman asked._

_"My boyfriend, Austin," Ally responded. Her hand grabbed his and she held it tight._

_"Do you mind?" The woman rudley asked him, "we're having a family discussion."_

_"A family dis-" Austin looked at Ally. "Who is she?"_

_Ally glared at her, "she's my mother."_

_Austin nodded and then looked at Ally's mother._

_"Penny." She responded._

_"Whatever, you're still the same woman that abandoned me when I was a child so, screw you."_

_"Allyson!" Her mother gasped._

_"It's Ally! And stop being so fake!" Ally argued back._

_"What's going on?" Austin asked again._

_"My mother wants me to move to New York with her and my parents won't tell me why." Ally answered back. "I want to stay here, with you, but they're insisting I move there."_

_Austin's heart started pounding and he knew exactly why Lester and her mother were making her leave._

_He also knew it was then that he had to tell her what was going on with her father._

_"Ally, there's something I think you should know." Austin responded._

_"What?"_

_He looked at Lester for a brief moment and then looked back at his girlfriend again, "your dad, he's sick."_

_She looked at him confused, "no, he isn't. He's… he said he was fine. He told me he was fine." Her eyes went to his chest and she shook her head._

_"He lied, Ally." Austin whispered and then she looked up at him and could see it in his eyes. He wasn't lying to her._

_She turned around, "why did you tell me you were okay?" She demanded._

_"I didn't want to worry you or scare you," Lester responded._

_"But I'm your daughter, I'm your only child! Why would you tell me the truth about what was going on?" Ally demanded, her hands going to her mouth as her eyes filled with tears._

_"I didn't want to hurt you," Lester responded._

_Ally shook her head, when she then realized something, "wait, how did you know about this?" She asked Austin._

_"I found the papers hidden in one of the books when you helped a costumer out a few weeks ago. Remember, when I said I'd help you organize them?" Austin responded._

_Ally nodded and then her eyes flashed with anger, "and you kept this from me for weeks?"_

_"I didn't know how to tell you. It wasn't in my place to." Austin argued._

_"But you just did!" Ally yelled at him. "My father is sick and you couldn't even tell me what? How would you feel if the situation were reversed or if I told you your birth mother was sick? Huh? How would you feel?" Her yelling became louder and louder the more she spoke._

_"Like shit!" He yelled back at her, "and I do! I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I didn't know how to!"_

_"Well, it seemed really easy for you right now, didn't it?" Ally responded back, her tone still cold. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared him down for a second. Austin didn't say anything so she just shook her head, "you know what, I'm done. Just today has been a crappy day. I need to go upstairs and think. Don't follow me. Anybody." And with that, she turned and ran up the stairs, the door slamming shut behind her._

_"I'm sorry, Mr. Dawson, I didn't mean to-"_

_"Austin, how many times have I told you, call me Lester," Lester gave him a soft smile._

_"You're not mad at me?"_

_"No." Lester assured him, "I'm more mad at myself if you want me to be honest, for not being upfront with Ally about my illness from the beginning."_

_"I didn't mean to tell her, I just, knowing about the truth was killing me and I just figured it was the right time to tell her. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset her this badly." Austin's eyes filled with tears and he looked down. "How lame is it that I'm crying right now?"_

_"You're an emotional boy, it's okay," Lester gave him a hug. "And don't worry about Ally, she'll come around, she's just displacing her anger. I don't think she's angry at you at all."_

_"But I knew the truth, I kept it from her."_

_"She'll come around, trust me." Lester told him and he nodded._

_"Well, um, I guess I'll just go home then, whenever she wants to talk, let her know I'm here for her. No matter what." Austin said and Lester nodded._

_"Will do."_

_"Now, will you excuse us? We've got a lot of discussing to do that doesn't involve you," Penny curtly told him and Austin nodded. He knew why Ally hated her so much and understood it very well in that moment._

_"Yeah, bye." He told her and then turned to Lester, "thanks." He said quietly. Lester gave him a nod and with that, Austin went home._

* * *

><p>"You know what's fun about throwing a ball in the air over and over and then catching it?" Austin asked. Dez, Trish, Carrie, Rydel and Ellington looked up at him. He realized they were waiting for an answer, and then looked at them, "no, I'm asking."<p>

"Nothing?" Trish guessed.

"It feels free?" Ellington guessed.

"It means you're bored?" Dez tried.

"You just like doing it?" Carrie guessed next.

"It helps keep you deep in thought." Rydel said and Austin nodded.

"No fair, you're siblings, you have some kind of telepathy thing going on," Dez pouted.

Austin shook his head while Rydel rolled her eyes.

"Missing Ally again?" She asked him quietly.

Austin nodded, catching the ball again, he stared at it, "yeah." He looked up at her, "but I don't know, maybe she'll call soon." He shrugged. And after a few more seconds of watching the movie, realized he was bored. "Hey, I'm gonna go on a walk, I'll be right back."

"Be careful," Rydel called after him softly.

Austin nodded again, "okay."

With that, he got up to go put the ball back and opened the door. He locked it behind him and then turned around. Looking up, he saw a tax cab pull up in front of his house and stood there, confused. As far as he knew, his neighbors were all in town, unless they were expecting family or something and his family most definitely wasn't expecting anybody either. The door opened and he watch, curious, as the person slowly got out.

Okay, well, obviously the person was short. Damn tinted windows wouldn't let him see who was there.

The taxi then pulled away and that was when he finally saw who it was.

And his heart was beating fast.

"Hey stranger!" Her giggle was light as she wiggled her fingers and waved at him.

"Ally." He whispered.

* * *

><p><em>See, so much anticipation for the next chapter already, huh? <em>

_Yeahhh, and so many unanswered questions too! Like, what happened after Austin told Ally about her father. Or, when did Ally break up with Gavin (if she did) and most importantly, wtf is Ally doing in Miami? Well that one was kind of answered already._

_How about that bomb that exploded (kinda not really, let's call it a metaphorical one, I guess) about Gavin? Didya see that coming?_

_Okay, so reviews would be awesome! _

_You're all rad. _

_Much love xx_


	6. Chapter 6

_Enjoy! You've waited long enough, you patient people you._

_Oh, there are more flashbacks, if the font is like this, it means it's a flashback. It's kinda like them both remembering things and their past once they see eachother again. I don't know, I thought it was kinda romantic. Haha._

_I own nothing. _

* * *

><p>There are moments in life where you question if the choice you made is the right one, moments where you realize there's an epic fight going on, not only inside your head, but with your heart as well.<p>

And moments where you just question, everything you've ever done and make decisions about whether or not they were worth it.

As Ally sat on the bus, waiting for Gavin to come back, she realized that the decision she had made, to go on tour with him, was one of the worst decisions she ever could have made (second to breaking up with Austin).

Piper had made her realize what she had done wrong. That instead of following her heart, she went with her head. It was time to stop being afraid and face what was scaring her head on.

Gavin came back an hour after Piper left. She had been writing in her songbook, when he arrived back on the bus. She looked up, noticing just how drunk he was.

"Drink enough?" She asked him, going back to writing in her songbook.

"Not even close," He responded, reaching over towards the refrigerator and pulling out a bottle of beer. He began to drink it and she made a face.

She realized that was the moment. She had to break up with him.

He sat down beside her, "are you writing a new song for me?" He asked her.

"No, actually, I'm not," She responded. "It's for Austin. He is my partner after all."

He rolled his eyes, "why do you write songs for him? His music isn't even that good."

"I write most of the songs, so… what are you trying to say?" She asked him. "My songs are shit?"

"No, just the ones he sings."

She tried not to roll her eyes. "Okay, well, I'm glad you think that."

"Really?" He looked like an excited kid, "you're gonna choose me over him?"

She sarcastically laughed, "no, I'm choosing him over you, actually." She stared right at him as he had leaned in closer to probably kiss her out of excitement and pushed him away, a look of disgust on her face. "I'm breaking up with you Gavin. It's over, we're over."

She quickly stood up and grabbed her bag and the one suitcase she and packed with all of her belongings already packed inside of it.

"You're seriously breaking up with me?"

"Yeah," She responded, "you're nothing but a joke and a loser."

He stood up and looked right at her, "you're going to be sorry you said that."

"Nope, the only thing I'm sorry about, is that I didn't realize all of this sooner." She glared at him, "goodbye Gavin." With that, she pushed passed him, but he grabbed her wrist, pulling her back.

She let out a noise of pain, "let me go!"

"Why would you go back to him? He's the joke, not me! He's a jerk! He's-"

"You finish that, I swear to god, I will kick you in a place, you don't want to be kicked," She threatened.

"Why defend him?" He scoffed and then held onto her tighter, "he's nothing but a lovesick idiotic puppy dog."

That was it, she dropped her bag and then with her other hand reached around and punched him right in the face.

"Don't you ever, talk about Austin like that, ever again. You're nothing but a liar and a cheater!" She yelled at him. "oh and when I say let go, fucking let go." Her voice got colder towards the end, and with that, she got all of her stuff and finally walked off the bus. She heard him scream her name and call her a bitch, but she realized, she didn't even care.

She was done with him. For good.

And to her, that was the most freeing and satisfying feeling in the world.

* * *

><p><em>Austin was sitting in his room, throwing a basketball in the air, when there was a knock on his door.<em>

_"Yeah?" He called softly, his mother coming inside._

_"Ally's here," She told him and he nodded. "I think you should go downstairs, I'm not sure she wants to come up here."_

_"Why?" Austin asked, moving his legs so that he was sitting on the edge of his bed._

_"She's upset about something," His mother told him and Austin nodded. "She wants to talk to you."_

_"It's okay, Mimi," Austin looked behind his mother, to see Ally was behind her. "I'm already here, I um, I'll just, yeah." She said and Mimi nodded, giving them both a small smile._

_"I'll leave you two alone," She said and with that, walked out, shutting the door behind her to give them privacy._

_"What's up?" He asked her and that's when he noticed how upset she was. Her eyes filled with tears, and she brought her hand in front of her mouth to try and calm her self down, but it clearly didn't work. "Ally?"_

_"He's dead, Austin." She whispered and then finally, she fell against him and completely broke down._

* * *

><p><em>"She's not talking to anybody," Trish looked up at Austin and Rydel. "You two are the closest with her, why don't you try?"<em>

_"I'm not-" Austin began, but his sister put her hand on his shoulder. The look she gave him pretty much told him everything he needed to hear. He saw it in her eyes. He nodded and with that, raised his hand to knock on the door._

_"Go away!" She yelled._

_"Ally, it's me. It's Austin." He spoke through the door._

_"Go away!" She repeated and he heard her whimper that time._

_"I know you want to be alone, but I don't think you should be right now," He said, looking at his friends, who gave him nods of encouragement. "Come outside, please? You have a lot of people here who want to see you."_

_He didn't hear anything, for about a minute and then the door opened and Ally came out. He reached his hand out and she took it, pulling him into the room with her, she shut the door._

_He could honestly say he didn't see that coming._

_"Why are you here?" She demanded, letting go of his hand._

_"I want to be here, with you." He answered, "you're not good right now and I don't want you to be by yourself."_

_"Why?"_

_"Ally, you know why." He stared at her._

_"No, I don't. Tell me."_

_He didn't like the way she was speaking to him._

_"Don't speak to me like that," He responded._

_"Are you here because you love me or are you here just because you think it's a good idea to be since you're my boyfriend and all." She gave him a look and that's when he became upset._

_"I didn't come here because I thought it would be a 'good idea'!" He yelled at her. "I came here because I don't want you to be by yourself!"_

_"Why won't you say it!" She yelled back at him._

_"Why won't you admit you're upset!" He yelled back at him. "You know you are, you're just not letting it show because you're afraid to feel!"_

_"I am? What about you? You're the one that won't say you love me!" She yelled back at him. They stared at each other for a few moments. Then, "just leave, Austin, it's over, we're over."_

_He shook his head head._

_"Don't you no, me." She responded, glaring at him._

_"Don't speak to me like that," He responded back and then he hugged her, pulling her against him. She tried to fight him, but he shook his head. "I love you, Ally. I'm in love with you and you fucking know that."_

_He knew he had gotten to her when he heard her sniffle._

_"You don't mean it, you're just saying it because I wanted you to and because my father's dead. He's dead and you're here and you're telling me you love me because he's gone and you think that-" She was cut off when Austin pressed his lips to hers, kissing her so hard and so passionately that she was breathless when he broke it and then stared right at her. It was quite possibly the most intense kiss they had ever shared._

_"Believe me now?" He asked her._

_Her response was to jump up, wrap her legs around his waist, surprising him so much, he had fallen back against the wall behind him and then she kissed him, hard and deep. They stayed like that, making out for a few minutes before she broke it and then leaned her forehead against his._

_"I love you too," She responded._

_"I really, really love you," He said, "with all my heart, and I'm not just staying that." Their voices were quieter and she nodded._

_"I know." She bit her lip and then he saw a tear slip down her cheek._

_"Ally, I know it's hard, losing a parent. I get it. I mean, I haven't technically gone through that since I don't remember my biological parents at all, but I know why you're upset. It's not the end."_

_She nodded, "okay." She whimpered and then she hugged him, crying into his shoulder._

_And he just hugged her back._

* * *

><p>There he was, right in front of her.<p>

There she was, right in front of him.

Her eyes filled with tears and she thought about the ride to his house, about how she had replayed their relationship over and over in her mind. About how he was the one that had always been there for her and never left her alone, even when it was all she wanted.

He was constantly by her side.

She loved that.

He said her name and that was when she lost it. She bit her lip to keep from full on crying and then dropped her bags be her feet. She ran towards him and he caught her as she jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck. His arms wrapped around her and she felt fully relaxed because she was finally safe again. She hid her face in his shoulder a cried as he just hugged her tighter. She knew then that he never wanted to ever let her go again.

It made butterflies erupt in her tummy and her heart skip.

And they stayed like that, for just a little while longer because neither one of them was willing (or wanting) to let go just yet.

* * *

><p><em>"Do you think it's weird I'm adopted?"<em>

_Ally looked over at her boyfriend, she got up and then rested one arm on his stomach, her chin resting on his chest as she looked up at him. She shook her head._

_"Why would that be weird?" She asked him._

_He shrugged. "I always feel weird. But their weird thing is, I don't remember my parents at all." She saw his eyes get teary and then closed her eyes. He continued to speak, "Rydel told me that she told the social workers not to split us up and they promised her they wouldn't."_

_"Wow, that's amazing." She whispered._

_He nodded, "I'm never letting her go." He looked down at her. "I'm never letting you go."_

_She smiled, "I'm never letting you go either." She moved her body so that she could press her forehead against his, "adopted or not, you're not going anywhere."_

_He smiled. "Okay."_

* * *

><p><em>"Hey Ally?"<em>

_Ally looked up from her songbook to see Austin was at the entrance to the store. He motioned for her to come towards him and she did. He took her hand and she raised an eyebrow questioningly before he, without warning, spun her around fast._

_She just giggled._

* * *

><p><em>"Do you really think you can go a week without sex?" Ally asked Austin as they sat on the couch and watched tv.<em>

_"Yeah, sure I can." He shrugged. "I mean, sure you're hot and sexy as hell and I do want to stab myself in the eye occasionally because I can't like take your right there in the middle of the store for all to see, but I can totally handle a week without sex."_

_"I don't think so." She said, narrowing her eyes._

_"Wanna make a bet?" He asked her, holding his hand out. "Until your birthday next saturday, you and I will not have sex."_

_"Twenty bucks says you're going to crack in the next day. You won't last." Ally responded._

_"Have some confidence in me." He told her. She thought about when they met and he had told her the same thing about them becoming partners. She slowly nodded her head._

_"You're on."_

_He grinned, "awesome. I'm so gonna win this."_

* * *

><p><em>"This feels so weird." Ally said, looking around the room. She stepped closer to her father's beside drawer table.<em>

_"I know." Austin said softly, he took her hand in his. "But you can do this. I'm right here if you need me."_

_She nodded and then he hugged her. He grabbed the box by his side and then together, they started to open a drawer and go through it. They were doing a good job, up until Ally found a picture._

_Her eyes filled with tears and Austin stopped what he was doing and looked at her._

_"What's wrong?" He asked._

_"This is a picture, of me as a baby," She whispered and he looked at her a moment before he looked at the picture. "Before my family became broken and my mom left us." She threw the picture in the box angrily and Austin picked it up. He put it back in and then thought about it, the photo flashing through his mind over and over again._

* * *

><p><em>Austin sat by himself in the living room, playing with the bracelet Ally had just given him for their anniversary. He hadn't gotten her anything and to say he felt like an idiot would be an understatement. Especially since she was really angry at him.<em>

_"What's wrong?" He heard Rydel ask as she sat down beside him._

_"I messed up my anniversary with Ally." He told her._

_"How?"_

_He shrugged, "I didn't get her anything. She's really upset."_

_Rydel nodded and they just sat together in silence for a moment._

_Then, "do you have any ideas?"_

_She shook her head and shrugged. He sighed and then sat back. "It would have to be something big."_

_"I know." He responded, biting his bottom lip. Then he looked at her again, "How do you know when you love somebody?" Rydel, clearly hadn't been expecting that because her eyes went to his super quickly._

_"You never want to see them leave, or let them go. You feel it in your heart too." She answered and he nodded. Then she asked her next question carefully and quietly, "do you love Ally?"_

_He nodded, "I think so."_

_She smiled, "then there's your anniversary gift."_

* * *

><p><em>Ally heard a knock on her window and slowly opened it.<em>

_"What are you doing here?" She demanded._

_"I love you." Austin said right away. He had just looked right at her and said it. She looked at him in surprise. He jumped down from the window and took her hands in his. "I love you, Ally Dawson."_

_Her eyes filled with tears and one hand went to her mouth in shock for a brief moment, before she lowered her hand and then smiled at him, throwing her arms around his neck._

_"I love you too." She whispered back._

* * *

><p>"<em>You think I'm a freak! Just leave!" Austin yelled at her.<em>

_"No, that's not it at all." Her voice broke as she spoke, her eyes teary and wet. "You need help, Austin, that's all I'm trying to do, okay? I'm just trying to help you!" She was crying now, her hands covering her face and he felt sad. He didnt want her to cry, but he was too angry. So, he just shook his head. _

_"Thanks to you, I'm being sent away. So, yeah. You're right it is best if we break up." And with that he walked out of the room and left her, heartbroken, by herself._

* * *

><p>"I am never letting you go, Ally. I don't want to lose you again." Austin whispered into her hair. Then, he heard her quietly sobbing, "Why are you crying?" Austin asked her, as he slowly pulled away from the hug.<p>

"Because," She whispered back, smiling when he wiped away her tears. "This is it, this is the most perfect moment ever."

He just stared at her and she reached her hand up running her fingers through his hair.

"I love you too," She whispered and then he just blinked at her before his lips crashed onto hers in a passionate and loving kiss that left them both breathless by the time it was over.

Her heart beat fast and she smiled into it, kissing him again and again and again as he just wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up. He spun her around and she giggled as she landed on the ground again, her arms going around his neck, she kissed him again.

And again.

And again.

And it was the most perfect moment they both could have ever asked for.

* * *

><p><em>The ending was kinda cheesy, but that's okay.<em>

_So, I do realize I post spoilers and stuff on twitter to tease and torture you guys. But since I lost this chapter (twice), I had to retwrite everything completely again and couldnt find the tweets, so it's sort of new. _

_If I do eventually find the tweets, I'll add them into the next chapter, somehow. _

_I know I did say this would be the last chapter, but I'm extending it. Gotta read how Rydel and the others take the news of them reuniting right? Oh and other things (like their break-up) will finally be revealed too, though, I kinda gave away a little hint there. _

_Review, tell me what you think! Sorry it took so long. _

_Much love! xx_


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